Lexington Herald Leader Editorial: Another Casualty Of Pain Pills.
Another casualty of pain pills
The gunning down of Dr. Dennis Sandlin while he was writing on a chart outside an exam room at a Perry County medical clinic is almost too horrible to think about.
But think about it we must, because the doctor's violent death is a symptom of the sickness that afflicts so much of Eastern Kentucky.
Police have charged a man who they say was doctor shopping for pain pills and was angry because Sandlin would not give him a prescription.
Employees of the Leatherwood/Blackey Medical Clinic in Perry County said the suspect threatened to come back and blow up the clinic after being told he could not receive a pain pill prescription without submitting to a urine test.
A Perry County deputy arrived after the suspect had left the clinic, but no charges were filed.
In retrospect, the failure to arrest the suspect, who had a criminal record and was wanted on a bench warrant, looks like a terrible mistake.
But it's also a reminder of how commonplace the routines of addiction have become, and that the abusers and dealers are usually thought of as someone's wayward neighbors or kin.
Sandlin had once physically subdued a man who was seeking drugs, according to one of his relatives. Perhaps after that a mere threat was not so terrifying.
One consequence of Eastern Kentucky's epidemic of prescription drug abuse is a blurring of the line between medicine and law enforcement. That, along with the workplace slaying of a beloved physician, is an unfortunate signal from a region that's desperate to recruit more primary care doctors, such as Sandlin, 57, a Perry County native who came home to practice medicine.
For almost 30 years now we've heard about the war on drugs. Some areas of Eastern Kentucky have the nation's highest per capita consumption of prescription painkillers. Drugs are also waging war on the population.
Sandlin is both a casualty and hero in that war. His loss will be felt not just by his family and friends but also by hundreds of patients who trusted and relied on him.
It's often said that no family, no matter how well educated or upstanding, is escaping Eastern Kentucky's painkiller scourge. The loss of Sandlin proves that.
The best way to honor his memory is to redouble efforts to heal the sickness that spawns so much violence and neglect, and to identify and punish those who are profiting from it.
The gunning down of Dr. Dennis Sandlin while he was writing on a chart outside an exam room at a Perry County medical clinic is almost too horrible to think about.
But think about it we must, because the doctor's violent death is a symptom of the sickness that afflicts so much of Eastern Kentucky.
Police have charged a man who they say was doctor shopping for pain pills and was angry because Sandlin would not give him a prescription.
Employees of the Leatherwood/Blackey Medical Clinic in Perry County said the suspect threatened to come back and blow up the clinic after being told he could not receive a pain pill prescription without submitting to a urine test.
A Perry County deputy arrived after the suspect had left the clinic, but no charges were filed.
In retrospect, the failure to arrest the suspect, who had a criminal record and was wanted on a bench warrant, looks like a terrible mistake.
But it's also a reminder of how commonplace the routines of addiction have become, and that the abusers and dealers are usually thought of as someone's wayward neighbors or kin.
Sandlin had once physically subdued a man who was seeking drugs, according to one of his relatives. Perhaps after that a mere threat was not so terrifying.
One consequence of Eastern Kentucky's epidemic of prescription drug abuse is a blurring of the line between medicine and law enforcement. That, along with the workplace slaying of a beloved physician, is an unfortunate signal from a region that's desperate to recruit more primary care doctors, such as Sandlin, 57, a Perry County native who came home to practice medicine.
For almost 30 years now we've heard about the war on drugs. Some areas of Eastern Kentucky have the nation's highest per capita consumption of prescription painkillers. Drugs are also waging war on the population.
Sandlin is both a casualty and hero in that war. His loss will be felt not just by his family and friends but also by hundreds of patients who trusted and relied on him.
It's often said that no family, no matter how well educated or upstanding, is escaping Eastern Kentucky's painkiller scourge. The loss of Sandlin proves that.
The best way to honor his memory is to redouble efforts to heal the sickness that spawns so much violence and neglect, and to identify and punish those who are profiting from it.
Labels: News reporting
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 4:44 PM
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