KevinMD: I am a doctor, but I didn’t cause the opioid epidemic

[Dustlawyer]

30. This doctor lives in a bubble or is in denial!

My brother's pain management Doctor is a "Pill Doctor." He had a back problem for years and got addicted to pain killers. Eventually we got him on disability and Medicaid/Medicare. He had surgery to repair his back and it went well. But my brother kept getting 90 10mg Narco pills every month. He is also an alcoholic who drinks all day. Since he never tells this to his doctors I sent his doctor a letter putting him on notice of my brother's surgery, who the surgeon was, that it had happened 7 months before, and how much my brother drank. At the time my 5'7" brother weighed 93 lbs and was malnourished.

He told my brother he wasn't going to let some lawyer tell him to practice medicine and kept prescribing the same prescription for another year until he closed his office last month due to changes in the opiod prescription guidelines. My brother will be dying in the next month or two from severe cirrhosis of the liver, certainly helped along by the narcotics in addition to the beer. My brother was an obvious addict, yet the doctor kept prescribing without pause. He would always prescribe two ther medications to make it look like he was treating a condition. I read all of his bottles while my brother was in the hospital fighting for his life a couple of months ago. All had big warnings not to take with alcohol.

I have chronic pain from small fiber sensory neuropathy. I am allergic to most medications they would normally use to treat my condition so I to have to take a narcotic. They now want to install another implant (I have a neural stimulator put in to help with pain), a pump to pump it directly into my spinal cord. They said it's because of the new guidelines. So I see both sides of this, but don't excuse the doctors, when someone like my brother comes in they know.

While in California for work and an extra day to kill I wandered down to check out Venice beach. I saw "Kush Doctor" signs everywhere. I stopped and spoke to a barker out front who was trying to get people to come inside. He explained a lot about medical pot, but I wasn't going in since I was flying out the next day. Some guy asked to bum a smoke and I gave him two. He was surprised I gave him two so he just handed me 1/2 a joint. The barker said "Now I guess you will find out how it works for you." That night at my hotel I was pain free for the first time in many years. I sat on the bed in my hotel room and cried.

Back in Texas I get piss tested randomly though I have never failed. It is illegal for me to use this substance which works better than any narcotic with much less side effects. I know that I couldn't use it anyway, at least during the day due to my profession, but it would be nice to get a break from the constant intense pain that never stops. It would be nice not to have to worry about withdrawals if my doctor goes on maternity leave again and I get a fill in doctor who won't prescribe my medication which happened to me last year. I take my meds just as prescribed, but my tolerance is so high now the pump seems the only way to go, as much as I don't want another piece of hardware and battery in my body.

We need a complete overhaul of this system and use medical pot for many like me instead of these dangerous and addictive pills!