Prescription for Pain: Patients denied medication

[UglyGreed]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A public health crisis in Florida has been created by shutting down the state's pill mills. Patients with legitimate doctor prescriptions for pain medicine are now routinely turned away at pharmacies.

They aren't drug addicts. They are regular people who are suffering from chronic pain, some even battling cancer. Some are hospice patients.

First Coast News started investigating this in 2013 and since then the problem has only gotten worse. Local doctors and pharmacists say it has become its own public health crisis and has even lead some to commit suicide.

"This last time when they told me they had to validate my medication I was just upset. Every month I go through this, and it's just unfair," said David Johnson.


http://www.firstcoastnews.com/story/news/health/2015/05/05/prescription-for-pain-patients-denied-medication/26907611/

[UglyGreed]

1. Nurse Demands Answers After Pain Killer Raid

Going in to federal court today, Dr. Xiulu Ruan seemed calm and collected. Inside the courtroom, his attorney entered a plea of not guilty to conspiring to distribute a controlled substance and committing healthcare fraud. His trial will begin in early August.

Meanwhile, I talked with Lance Bell, a registered nurse, whose wife suffers from chronic pain.

“She has chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia and she has some lower back issues, sciatica and things like that,” says Bell.

And she is just one of hundreds of patients now without a way to get the pain medication they need. Bell says many turn to the ER, which is a problem.

“But the ER's are always full. But the ER's won't give them pain medication, they will admit them for withdrawal,” says Bell.

Which takes up a bed for several days, but that only helps the addicts and not others in the area like industrial workers—of which there are many in the Mobile area—who suffer from real pain.

“None of the doctors are actually advocating for the patients, the coverage on the news is all about the doctor and the big drug deals which has nothing to do with his legitimate patients,” says Bell.

http://www.wkrg.com/story/29183064/nurse-demands-answers-after-pain-killer-raid

[MH1]

2. Doctors are harassed for writing legitimate prescriptions

Plus the prescribing process for effective pain killers is much more work and red tape than other prescriptions.

Just one more way that the life and work of a doctor isn't what pop culture thinks it is.

[UglyGreed]

3. But in the end the people who

pay the highest price are those who are left to suffer by no fault of their own.

[MH1]

4. Oh absolutely

I should have included that this creates a strong incentive for doctors to underprescribe.

Which just makes it worse for the patient.

Everyone has to suffer because we as a society don't know how to deal with addiction. Yet plenty of people have real need for pain killers and should be allowed to have the benefit.

[UglyGreed]

5. I completely understand your point

I just wanted to add that since most of the time the chronic pain patient sit alone away from the public eye. Out of sight out of mind. Thank you for the reply.

[lookatme]

6. just saying....

http://www.painkilleroverdoselawyer.com/opioid-painkiller-lawsuits/opioid-painkiller-litigation/

My doctor is very gun shy as most are now.

You would be amazed how many people try to sue doctors

Some cases are legitimate but many are people looking
for a fast buck and a settlement which many insurances
companies pay to make them just go away.

[UglyGreed]

7. I understand but the other side of the coin

is this type of result....

For sufferers, pain can invite extremes
Worrisome stories in Maine bolster the belief that people with chronic pain have a higher risk of suicide than the general population.

On the morning of April 12, Vicki McKenney called 911 from her home in Windham. Her 66-year-old husband was threatening to shoot and kill himself.

The dispatcher asked if he had dementia, according to a transcript of the call.

“No. No. He’s had chronic low back pain for seven months,” McKenney said. “Nobody’s helped him and it’s really affected him mentally.”

Although pain is a common medical complaint, when it seems as though it might never get better, it can be one of the most desperate conditions, leading patients to drastic measures. The sense of hopelessness was evident in the recent case of Stephen McKenney, the murder-suicide of an elderly couple in Gouldsboro last month and the experience of a 31-year-old Westbrook woman who is still alive to tell about it.

People suffering from chronic pain often feel helpless, hopeless and alone. Their quality of life has diminished; they can no longer do things that gave them joy.

When they don’t have a diagnosis, doctors might dismiss the pain as in their head or an excuse to get drugs. They may have to stop working and find it harder to be around friends, who don’t necessarily want to be with someone who’s in pain all the time. The pain becomes all they have to think about, which in turn can make it worse. It’s a cycle that may seem impossible to escape.

The risk of suicide in chronic pain patients is believed to be about twice as high as the general population, according to a 2011 pain report by the Institute of Medicine.

One study showed that people with chronic pain are more than twice as likely to have thought about suicide, more than three times as likely to have planned their suicide and more than six times as likely to have attempted suicide, the report said.

http://www.pressherald.com/2014/12/21/for-sufferers-pain-can-invite-extremes/

Not sure if higher malpractice premiums are going to send the doctors into despair and end it all.