First Do No Harm: The DEA targets Physicians who treat their patients pain.
Public Comments (15,444)
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Sep 21st, 2015Someone from Joliet, IL signed.
Sep 21st, 2015Someone from Milam, TX signed.
Sep 21st, 2015Someone from Grand Rapids, MI writes:
Profiling of patients is real. This month alone I've been fearful to visit the emergency room. For example I have chronic pain in my feet after being a member of fitness clubs. Which I now have call us is. In addition to the arm & shoulder pain. Thus I experienced embarrassment and immediate profiling because before I could see a doctor . the registering securtary had been extremely rude about me coming in as a patient. The truth is my primary doctor unknowingly to me had stop practicing at the location where I had normally schealduled appointments. Thus I needed a referral again to be further cared & treated and prescribed prescriptions. In short, the whole experience for myself in getting norco has been a additional pain.Sep 20th, 2015Someone from Houston, TX writes:
I just had a csection and was sent home with basically no pain pills causr of all of this crapREPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelSep 20th, 2015Someone from Palm Desert, CA signed.
Sep 20th, 2015Someone from Johnson City, TN signed.
Sep 20th, 2015Someone from Magazine, AR writes:
Its absolutely an absurdity that a patient who has been seeing the same doctor for years now has to incorporate a new doctor and all the ensuing grief that accompanies itREPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelSep 20th, 2015Someone from Akron, OH writes:
I have been a chronic pain patient for many years suffering with chronic migraines, fibromyalgia, a long standing knee injury that is only getting worse and will lead to a knee replacement one day soon, osteoarthritis in many parts of my body and sjogrens syndrome too. I have been taking long term opioid therapy for about 12 years now. 6 years ago I moved from Washington state to Ohio and had a very difficult time finding a medical provider to work with me. I tried to find a pain management dr but I saw about 6 and all of them either wanted to go thru treating me with epidurals or wanted to send me to rehab to get me off my pain meds but why should I do that when on the meds I am productive and able to function reasonably well? All I wanted to do was to continue taking the meds I was successfully taking for 5 years, was stable and living a reasonably productive good quality of life while taking them, but I was treated as a drug seeker entirely and disrespected by these doctors and their staffs and I began to doubt myself. After seeing the 6th pain management dr with such an attitude my primary care dr agreed to prescribe for me and has continued to do so since that time and I am more than grateful. I have had only one increase in my medications in the 12 years I've been on them and that was because I changed from percocet to strait oxycodone to eliminate the acetaminophen from my medications and there wasn't an equivalent dose to what I was taking so instead of 7.5 percocet I went to 10 mg oxycodone. I have remained at this dosing and not increased it over 12 years along with my pain patch.(other than as described) I just began seeing a new rheumatologist because of my recent diagnosis of sjogrens and he wants me to get off my pain meds and my NSAID which I am reluctant to do - I don't see the difference between staying on my stable use of my current opioids and my going on suboxone or methadone which are also opioids and also have their own sets of side effects and overdosing problems so there is going to be more discussion about this. Doctor's who want to help patients should be able to help them without fear of reprisal from the government agencies After all, isn't that their job - to treat a person who is sick or suffering in pain? Why is it that the government steps in between a patient and his or her doctor to interferre in the relationship that is working to help the suffering person trying to get better? Why is it the government's business? The addiction issue has been proven to be starting in the streets, not in doctor's offices so leave our physicians alone and let them do what they do best...treating their patients, prescribing needed medicines. If the government is so concerned about the addiction issue then stop worrying about the doctor's prescribing to legitimate patients and instead crack down on the illegal drugs being brought into our country or manufactured here in poverty stricken areas. Stop sending oREPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelSep 20th, 2015Someone from Humble, TX writes:
I live with the most debilitating and painful 24/7 365. It's the other big "C"! Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. CRPS and its complications along with other conditions can take our lives and we should be able to live life and have quality of life. The ERs need to treat us not judge us. They are our last resort when in a flare. If opioids are taken or decreased what else will be put in its place? Opioid addiction is not killing us the government and our conditions are! Please educate and bring awareness to #CRPS and more training needs to be given to the entire medical community. We need compassionate Drs. When our documentary Trial by fire by Charles Mattocks is finished I suggest you all watch it!!REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelSep 19th, 2015Someone from Mesquite, TX signed.
Sep 19th, 2015Someone from Saint Petersburg, FL writes:
Between Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and several bad auto accidents (dear people, red lights mean stop!), I am in pain all the time. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 5 is hitting my thumb with a hammer, I'm usually around an 8. I use a cane or walker, I have an entire drawer ful off braces that I wear as needed, I wear special shoes and custom insoles, I do the recommended exercises every day, I have a special mattress and pillows, I use ice packs and even my own TENS machine. I have had years of intensive physical therapy. I have had courses of cortisone injections in the knee, the elbow, the shoulders, the mid-back, the lower back. I've had epidural cortisone injections. I have had knee and shoulder surgery. I get regular Botox injections for facial spasm. I've done about everything I can, and my doctors have, too. But there's a lot they can't fix. I take gabapentin, and that calms down the "fryolator pain" from compressed spinal nerve roots enough that I can sleep. I have a topical pain cream from the component pharmacy that does help ease the muscle spasms a little. But without real pain meds, some days I can't even get out of bed. I was on time release morphine for years, and it helped a lot. I could do more, I could sleep better, I was less groggy and less crabby. I could be a lot more active, and still have a pain level around four or five. I never got stoned or tipsy. I never abused my meds. I never left them where anyone else could get at them. I had a life. But then I moved to a state that is particularly hostile to pain patients. Now, I don't have the real pain meds anymore. I am in severe pain all the time. If I move wrong, it can be so bad tears run down my face, or I am nauseated, or my vision goes white for a moment. When I had a breast biopsy, I didn't bother to fill the pain prescription, because I wasn't uncomfortable enough. I'm plenty uncomfortable today. Please, end these draconian rules for obtaining pain medication. For someone who is mobility impaired or Ill, especially for those who are also poor, these rules are especially problematic. Too sick or too broke to get to the doctor's office today, and then to the pharmacy, twice? Then no refill for you! Filling prescriptions at only one pharmacy is great in theory, but not so great when that one pharmacy doesn't have your pain meds -- the ones you get every month -- and doesn't get them in until the new prescription has expired. These rules are killing and crippling people. The abusers always seem to get their drugs. The real patients, we are the ones who can't.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelSep 19th, 2015Someone from North Lakewood, WA writes:
The main items to consider are a) Do No Harm b) Quality of Life for All Individuals c) Rights of All individuals ...their options & choices are what's important. I have never understood why the war against Drugs (addicts) is being done this way. If this small fraction of people are misusing their medications why should the larger amount of people be left to suffer? Addicts and people engaged in illegal activities will use and obtain any and all things necessary for them to use no matter if they are illegal or not. New & More Laws will only affect the people whom actually follow Laws.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelSep 19th, 2015Someone from Newport News, VA writes:
As a 29 year old chronically ill woman I have had severe chronic pain since I was 11 years old. More times than not I am accused of drug seeking or get the you're too young to be so ill lecture. I have thought numerous times that death would be my only relief. People need to realize physical dependency and addiction are two entirely different things. Why should I suffer because other people abuse the medications I need to live a semi normal life? Why is it the DEA has say in my care when not a single person in that building knows me from Adam and Eve? Get it together, America! The DEA should be considered an agent of terrorism!REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelSep 19th, 2015Someone from South Plainfield, NJ writes:
I was hit by a drunk driver in 2007 a month before my wedding. Since that time I have suffered severe back pain, PTSD, tingling in my face, the works. I was 28 when it happened. Now years later while still dealing with all of this I HAD some help: yesterday i went for an ultrasound and Mamogram and they found over 100!!! excruciatingly painful complicated cysts and a tumor behind my breast. I was sobbing in pain at the radiology center and they encouraged me to head to my GP for pain pills until I could seek out a surgeon. Well, even though the center told his office their findings, he still treated me like some kind of lying drug addict saying "you've take too much". I have no prescription pills and haven't for months! I was turned away even after asking them to drug test me. I could barely even drive home because of the pain radiating under my arm and not being able to have the seatbelt touch my breast. I don't understand what people are supposed to do. My family and the radiology center was shocked that my doctor refused to help me. I've been laying on the floor crying in pain for almost a month now and no one will help me. Im missing work and running out of money. I don't understand why physicians are doing this to people? Because of the "government"? Why. What are innocent people in excruciating pain supposed to do? I picked up a bottle of rum out of desperation and I'm not a drinker. Guess I'll have to become an alcoholic now. Thanks for doing this to me and everyone else on here!REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelSep 19th, 2015Someone from The Villages, FL writes:
Thank-You for listening to our stories. What is said above, has happened to me. Do to physician toxic verbal, and non-verbal communication, I have isolated myself from friends, family, and society. I have had chronic pain for over fifteen years now. Nerve damage, and IC. Severe bladder pain, I know is exasperated by mental stresses. I had another experience with a physician, that left me feeling suicidal. I had never asked for pain medication. My pain meds are provided by my neurologist. Some physicians knowing I am taking pain meds, do not want to help with other medical problems. I do not understand what is going on!! I have developed Post Traumatic Stress. Entering a medical facility I have a panic attack, my eyes full of tears. I have been told, I can not see a physician alone, my husband has to be present to make sure physician attacks will be documented by another spectator. This problem has serious mental and physical implications. These physicians must be held accountable for their actions. Do No Harm!! Chronic pain patients need support from our providers, we are looking for compassion and understanding. I am furious at people who misuse medication, which makes chronic pain patients suffer more. It causes a serious impediment to our quality of life. Our life's matter. I plead with anyone who is reading this, to continue writing letters, and make sure the excecutive managers of office or hospital know what is happening to you. Some one in this world has a heart, and pray it will not be pushed under a rug. I personally appreciate an oppurtunity to voice my story, giving me hope that something will change. You matter, We matter.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelSep 19th, 2015Someone from Robertsville, MO writes:
I am a chronic pain patient so I know what it's like to live with excruciating pain every minute of every day. No human being should have to live like this when there is treatment available. The suicide rate is sky rocketing in the chronic pain community because medication is being denied to these people. People are also losing their jobs and having to get on disability. If they were properly treated with the right pain medication many people would be able to keep their jobs. Isn't it better to have productive people instead of people that are needlessly suffering and being forced to live off of disability? We need to educate our Drs. There is no law that says they can not prescribe or how much they can prescribe. Remember that our Drs work for us, not the other way around. We should be treated like human beings and also be treated with respect. We did not ask to have chronic pain.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelSep 19th, 2015Someone from Yorktown, VA writes:
Please don't do this to us. I finally have some quality of life again.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelSep 19th, 2015Someone from Yorktown, VA signed.
Sep 19th, 2015Someone from Lavonia, GA writes:
I have a chronic degenerative disease. (Stickler's syndrome) It is genetic and my children suffer too. We are having a very difficult time getting pain medications already. We also have to endure the shame now associated with opiate use. Please don't make our lives any more difficult with new regulations. I'm sure my son will commit suicide as he is dependent on pain meds to walk-(still in incredible pain if he is up more than 15 minutes) his pain medicines allow him to get out of bed and carry on a normal conversation. They are a necessity please don't make it ANY harder to get prescriptions.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelSep 18th, 2015Someone from Lake Havasu City, AZ signed.
Sep 18th, 2015Someone from Ridgecrest, CA writes:
Is there any reason or is it written somewheres.that states us secretary life long pain patients can not SUE all the government no it alls (whom 1/3 are drug abusers )along with these self appointed pain mismanagement Dr. For PAIN AND SUFFERING. Not just. us as patients but the people in our lives that our torment causes emotional pain by not being able to do anything but watch us suffer.. Auschwitz type treatment by our own government (just group them all together as no good druggies ). Here is and instance twhere punishment should fit.crime This is (was)My life with the help I was getting could live it.I say SUE we need To put these CRIMINALS on trial for drugwar crimesREPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelSep 18th, 2015Someone from Sikeston, MO signed.
Sep 18th, 2015Someone from Sikeston, MO signed.
Sep 18th, 2015Someone from Tionesta, PA writes:
Well I signed this I believe 6 months ago without realizing it was already 4 years old! No one is listening, nothing is being done, and in fact things for we chronic pain sufferers are continuing to get worse. We desperately need someone in the House and/or Seneate to be a voice and advocate for us!! The powers that be are not paying any attention to petitions, but with the elections fast approaching, now would be the time to approach he politicians in our respective states. They certainly don't want to lose any of their constituents at this time! I can't physically go out to do my thing due to mobility issues, but I certainly can use the phone and internet! Come on fellow sufferers, we are all in this together..WE HAVE TO BAND TOGETHER AND HELP ONE ANOTHER!!!!!!REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelSep 18th, 2015Someone from Whitewater, WI signed.
Sep 18th, 2015Someone from Bangor, ME writes:
I tested + for Lyme disease 9 yrs before I was told or treated. I had DEBILITATING pain. Developed Iritis/Uveitis (Severe inflammation inside the eyes) which causes the retina to detach if not aggressively treated. Ihad severe neck, cervical spind, knee, and headaches that left me bedbound. I wt. 98 pds. I was told I had fibromyalgia. I am an educated woman with degrees in nursing,CADC 9Certified alcohol & Drug Counselor, MHRT-C (Mental rehab. tech Certified, and Bach. of science in the medical field. I was reduced to a NOTHING!! I was hospitalized 3 times ( for psychosomatic symptoms). The psychiatrist believed I had generalized anxiety disorder and PTSD. I spent one month in ICU, coded (Hypoxic respiratory arrest) not half hr after being brought by ambulance as I thought I was having a heart event. My health issues have been a long and winding rd, confusion abounds, condescending was the norm, MRI's show disc's from cervical to lumber that are deteriorated, deteriorating,and I am just now being told I Probably have ankylosying spondylosis Iritis is a common symptom and they go together. Ali want is some comfort, a break from the burning, bone-deep unrelenting,aching,unbearable physical weight, a prison, a life sentence if nothing is done to help me medically. Yes, I can still get around and I am grateful for many things in my simple life that I lead. Chronic pain changes a person,or it changed me, severe depression, hopelessness, loss of friends, no longer wanted in a career due to missed days due to the various physical assault upon my being. I NEVER dreamed when I was providing hospice care to my clients that this is probably what they were feeling. You cannot know until you are living it. I Would like to have some of my life back. Who would chose to be this way?? Once upon a time I had a brand new Harley Davidson,I was proud, I Accomplished a goal that was once a mans domain. I traveled, drove to Florida & back (Maine) twice, 2000 one way, I went to Canada where most of my family lives, had bon-fires, cook-outs, parties. I don't do these things now because if I did I know I would be EXHAUSTED and look for the nearest empty bedroom. It is NOT just the depression. The depression is a result of the on-going 10+ yrs of chronic pain. This is the truth, GOD strike me dead this very day if I have fabricated, exaggerated, or overstated my situation. To all the chronic pain suffers,I wish medical science had a method of measuring pain,wouldn't that be a great help to us? I think-it would be. Thank You.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelSep 17th, 2015Someone from Newport Beach, CA writes:
I have Spinal Stenoisis and wide spread Osteoarthritis. I have a Congenital abnormality in my L5 that has become a "spur" and I cannot get surgery... AHA is NOT helping. I also have other issues that make me look like a habitual drug user, but they are for my Bipolar 2. With out these meds I am terrified of becoming the person I was before diagnosis. Why are we being punished because the President won't look at Street Dealers in Gangs and Inner cities???? Why are doctors getting punished because Parents can't keep their kids out of medicine cabinets?? There needs to ba a waver for those of us that will have to be on these meds for long term. We are not "Stoners" but are able to WORK with the use of our meds.. With out them we are on Social Security. So again, why are WE being punished for the lack of Leadership in the White House and putting the DEA on medication instead of the Border where the real Drug problem is.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelSep 17th, 2015Someone from Chicago, IL writes:
It seems the DEA has become HITLER, and us pain patients have become the Jews.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelSep 17th, 2015Someone from Annandale, MN writes:
I don't need pain medication now, but I am a cancer survivor who went through several hours of surgery. I did need pain meds then and can't imagine going through what I did without it. Yes I smoked pot to help with chemo. Shame on you dea, no caps on purpose!!!!REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelSep 17th, 2015Someone from Cordova, AL signed.
Sep 17th, 2015Someone from Mobile, AL writes:
Please help I have family members who have chronic pain who are unable to get their medication. Their doctors are now being threatened and unable to write pain prescriptions. The Doctor is looking for a Pain Clinic for them but the DEA has already closed all of them. What kind of Free Country does this to people!REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelSep 17th, 2015Someone from Cordova, AL signed.
Sep 17th, 2015Someone from Waterloo, IA writes:
I have been on morphine for 13 years my doctor automatically took me off I have scoliosis curving of the spine and curving into places I've been off my meds for seven months please helpREPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelSep 17th, 2015Someone from Waterloo, IA signed.
Sep 17th, 2015Someone from Sonora, CA writes:
I am a former cancer patient and had radiation following surgery which left me with chronic pain at surgery site. My doctor has prescribed narcotic pain pills for 13 years but now is secombing to DEA pressure like almost all others. No alternative offered, just go find another doctor. As mentioned above, this is against all medicine stands for. Pain level is one of the 5 or 6 important diagnostic treatment tools. To not treat it is immortal, akin to not treating a fever or high blood pressure. SHAME ON YOU DEA.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelSep 17th, 2015Someone from San Francisco, CA signed.
Sep 17th, 2015Someone from Bagwell, TX writes:
I don't take this often but the times I've had to, I was glad it was available to get and I know people who do need it on a daily basis, its a shame to watch people suffer because of others wrong doings.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelSep 17th, 2015Someone from Henderson, NV writes:
I've been on opiate pain medications for ten years due too a birth defect in lower back and surgery. Its the only thing that has helped me I've been compliant with my dr and never had an issue until I moved to henderson Nevada. I now hear that as of October even cancer patients will have issues. Funny how its so easy to get your pot license. Im all in for this petition and I hope it makes a difference for the many of us who live with pain everyday.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelSep 17th, 2015Someone from Franklin, MA writes:
I experienced a devastating injury 2 years ago when I was impaled on a roided-up metal landscaping stake. It entered my groin area and my pelvis was broken while stopping it, effectively turning me in to a human Popsicle. I spent 10 days in the hospital and was bed/couch ridden for 2 months. Miraculously none of my organs were damaged and I wasn?t required to wear a colostomy bag (thank the lord.) Despite the lack of permanent organ injury, I now suffer from debilitating nerve pain in my calf/foot and experience knifing pain in the area surrounding my right hip. Sometimes the pain is due to stress or movement and sometimes it comes on for no visible reason whatsoever. The biggest hurdle in my quest for some semblance of relief is that I'm young. I?m 25 years old, and because of this, people assume I only want the medication for recreation. Nobody really takes my problem seriously and assumes the prescribing of any narcotic inevitably leads to a back alley and a needle. The problem for me is that nothing else works, I?ve been though physical therapy, I've been prescribed all sorts of antidepressants and semi-opioid drugs like tramadol (preferable to full opioids because it?s unscheduled yet more dangerous because causes freaking seizures) that apparently help ease the pain but did nothing but cause mood swings and severe headaches. I just don?t understand how a doctor who prescribes me something just as addictive Opioid Pain medication, yet far more dangerous, is looking out for my wellbeing. I stopped taking any and all antidepressants because of the aforementioned side effects. It just bothers me that there's something that will help me, and has helped me in the past, but it?s kept out of reach because I can?t be trusted and there?s a chance I?ll show up as fatality on the government's OD death list and contribute to the perception that my state and the U.S. are embroiled in an epidemic. That's all the politicians care about and that really gets under my skin. I have a good job, a family that cares about me, and a girlfriend whom I love. I understand that misuse or abuse of pain medications can lead to the loss of all that I hold dear. I understand that the use of these medications is akin to walking next to a cliff, where it is imperative to be constantly aware of one?s sure footing. I understand all of that and yet I?m still not trustworthy, I?m not in enough pain to ?warrant? the prescription of those kinds of medications, but most importantly I?m not an objectively safe enough patient. Doctors are afraid to prescribe these medications to people that will benefit from them, not because they fear it is contrary to the patients? wellbeing and quality of life, but because of the increased scrutiny that accompanies prescribing scheduled narcotics, and that is disgraceful. I implore you, and other law makers such as yourself, to find a different solution to the surge in heroin overdoses that our nation is currently experiencing. The problemREPORT COMMENTS
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