Tyumen singer battling cancer gets morphine prescription

Tyumen singer and conductor Angelika Talantseva, who has been battling cancer for over three years, needed strong pain medication. According to her son, obtaining a prescription for morphine was initially impossible due to bureaucratic procedures. The drug was prescribed only after a series of complaints, while the woman suffered from severe pain.

The Regional Health Department explained that morphine is a strictly controlled narcotic. Its prescription is allowed exclusively after an in-person examination by a doctor with a full set of documents. «As with the patient, the drug was promptly prescribed as soon as the local therapist was provided the opportunity for a personal home examination (within approximately two hours from the initial appeal of relatives to the medical institution),» the department stated. They emphasized that the established procedure is a legal requirement, not bureaucratic red tape.

Currently, Angelika Talantseva is at home, and she has already been visited by a palliative care doctor. The Health Department and City Polyclinic No. 5 stated their readiness for further operational interaction.

Angelika Talantseva led the choir chapel of the Tyumen Philharmonic for 15 years. Even after her cancer diagnosis, she continued to support other patients by performing concerts at the oncology center.