canklecat

Yup. A week or so ago while riding the bus to and from my medical appointments, I overheard a couple of guys my age who go to the same health care system. They were talking about taking advantage of the system by exaggerating their pain. Then they'll resell the meds for a ridiculous profit, like $10-$20 per pill for something that cost them anywhere from $20 per bottle to zero, depending on their copay with Medicaid, etc.

These guys were the cliched grifters everyone thinks of when they hear about druggies and abuse of the medical system. Pissed me off so much I had to restrain myself from fussing at them or just pepper spraying them both as soon as they stepped off the bus so they'd have some real pain to complain about.

Reminded me of a former neighbor, an ex-con who was so broken down by age 50 he wasn't fit for the prison system. So they paroled him out to our apartment complex where he continued his druggie ways, including his scuzzy associates who broke into the mailboxes and other apartments. They made him our problem. And when he started failing his drug tests, he sabotaged his own health to avoid going back to prison. During the day he'd go around in a wheelchair, with his swollen, bloody bare feet showing, acting like he was disoriented, stuttering like he'd had a stroke. Late at night when most people were asleep or gone, he'd walk around, talk normally and brag about getting high. He was angling for a transfer to an assisted living facility to get more benefits and access to more suckers.

For the umpteenth time I'll say it -- junkies ruin everything. Fortunately guys like that are *not* representative of most disabled seniors I've met who have legit chronic pain. (And I don't consider myself disabled or a "senior". I don't care what the label on my medical chart says. I'm not "geriatric".)