First Do No Harm: The DEA targets Physicians who treat their patients pain.
Public Comments (15,444)
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Jul 8th, 2015Someone from Kennard, TX signed.
Jul 8th, 2015Someone from Olive Branch, MS writes:
I'm paralyzed now and am in severe pain and can't get a doctor to give me anything but the Dr will give my 25 yr old Daughter- in-Law Oxycotin and Oxycodone for a pulled muscle in her back and she just had her 2nd baby!!Jul 8th, 2015Someone from Dothan, AL writes:
I'm paralyzed from the waist down and live in a wheelchair. After 24 years of doing transfers my rotator cuffs in my shoulders are worn out. I cannot have surgery to fix them because I would not be able to transfer for weeks. My doctor prescribes Vicoprofen for me. I don't know what I would do without having that to help with my pain. I would just lay in bed 24/7 and slowly die.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJul 8th, 2015Someone from Clay, KY writes:
I had a back injury two years ago. I was given a pain block then put in physical therapy where I destroyed myself without knowing because I could feel no pain. This is the standard practice. Pain block them then put them in therapy. My Nero surgeon said the damage was monumental compared to what he had seen on the MRI. In fact the disc was so compressed it blew up on the table and they spent more time cleaning up the broken pieces. Now I walk with a cane because my perfectly good right leg suffered nerve damage from it all and I'm a fall risk now. Pain management has been nothing but a circle jerk where my doctor has been traded out without even informing me and the office uses a call service where you can never get anyone on the phone for help. I find it odd also that after we sent troops into Afghanistan the illegal opium trade is once again booming and suddenly the brakes are put on prescribed pain medication in all western nations. So I have to wonder if governments and big pharma are looking out for us or the cartels?REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJul 8th, 2015Someone from Sacramento, CA writes:
Got abruptly cutoff a low dosage of hydrocodone which I had been taking for 5 years and never asked for more or an increase in dosage. I was the model patient and adhered to my pain contract to the letter. I was told by my doctor they no longer consider opioids an effective treatment for chronic pain. Instead of the typical 60 pills for 30-45 days, I was sent home with 15 and told they will refuse all further requests and to look into other options, which included everything I've tried already. I am getting by, by with each passing day, life gets a little more miserable.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJul 7th, 2015Someone from Knoxville, TN writes:
My 92yr old grandmother was forced to sign a "pain contract" and be urine tested for tramadol. 1/2 a pill morning and night. This should never happen. It is no wonder heroin use/deaths keeps rising -- when the government won't allow doctors to do their job then people in pain will look elsewhere.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJul 7th, 2015Someone from Minneapolis, MN writes:
I nearly died from MRSA sepsis following a minor injury to my right calf. The cascade of nearly fatal complications left my body weak and scarred. I sought care but was no taken seriously despite the three months on an iv and kidney failure.Two years later the infection returned in my spine. Dr. Reddy of Health Partners did not believe me as I sought care for the crippling pain. 4 months later it was too late. My t7,8,and 9 are fused and two discs dissolved. It cannot be corrected surgically. I am in horrific pain each day. The doctor who didn't believe me labeled me a drug seeker-behavior that I have never had. In fact, I avoid taking most medications. With my spine the way it is now, and the complicating pain of a genetic disease (EDS) I need to be able to remain on pain medications. Rather than being allowed to do this, I am in a methadone clinic to treat my pain. My general care doctors, fearing arrest for prescribing to a now labeled drug seeker, told me that I belong there. The Methadone clinic does not want me due to my poor health and lack of need for addiction care. When I tried to look at different pain clinics, I was again called a drug seeker for looking for a doctor who was not afraid to prescribe pain drugs to people who needed them. I was immediately told that I must be lying about my pain and referred to a therapist. (Filed another complaint) This is insanity. Doctors should not be afraid to treat patients. I am often told, "I'm sorry, but we are too scared and you are a liability to us. You'll find someone eventually but it's not me." This has to end. I am literally looking to move out of my home state to be able to have medical care in a location that isn't obsessed with finding drug addicts in pain patients and drug dealers in doctors who treat them.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJul 7th, 2015Someone from Natrona Heights, PA signed.
Jul 7th, 2015Someone from Pensacola, FL writes:
I am a 65 year old married man with a married daughter and three grandchildren. I have been suffering with peripheral neuropathy over 90% of my body for the last four years. It came upon me in one day when I was suddenly barely able to move my legs and was so tired I could hardly move at all. I was helped to my car and my wife drove us home. I got to bed and awoke a few hours later in extreme pain with burning all over my body, inside my nose and down my throat into my lungs. Even my eyeballs burned! I went to a clinic to see if they could figure out what happened and was told I had peripheral neuropathy (PN). I was told to take Tylenol for the pain but there was no treatment or cure only pain management. After a day of too much Tylenol and absolutely no relief I went to the emergency room and had testing done which confirmed I had PN caused by undiagnosed diabetes with a 7.1 A1C, the bare minimum for a diabetes diagnosis. I remembered that just a few days before I got sick I had sprayed a lot of things on my yard to kill mites. I told the ER doctor about my concern and he told me "Only diabetes causes PN" and while I was asking him more questions he just ignored me and walked out of the room. (Typical doctor, ignore the patient and give inaccurate information to the patient.) He was less than generous with the hydrocodone giving me only five 5/500 pills. I asked if I could get more as that would probably only last a day and a half and he said "NO! Go find a primary care physician and they will provide them but the hospital would not. So I had a day to find a PCP that would prescribe hydrocodone. (Aren't emergency room doctors concerned with their patient's well being?) I was lucky and found a clinic near me that actually did provide me with hydrocodone and the prescription back then lasted three months before I had to see the doctor again. He was cautious and only gave me two 5/500 pills per day so I would take one before bed and half when I woke up and the other half after dinner. The entire day I was in bed curled up in pain. I was a teacher for the University of Phoenix at the time but found that I was unable to keep up with the minimum workload of facilitating 40 students so I stopped teaching until I could do my job. There went my retirement savings. So I filed for disability. Denied, their doctor only checks for large fiber neuropathy and the psychologist never let me speak as she told me all about how successful her and her family was. The SS Administration told me that the denial was based upon how attentive a listener I was for the 40 minutes I sat and listed to the psychologist rambled on about her family. ( I would have interrupted her to explain why I was disabled but she was over 80 and reminded me of my mother.) Having a condition that is progressive, degenerative, incurable and untreatable only made my mental state worse each day. The lack of adequate palliative care only made it worse. It seemed they did not care how muchREPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJul 7th, 2015Someone from Red Oak, TX writes:
I have been with a pain management doctor in Dallas, TX for several years. After a badly botched root canal, two surgeries to fix that. Then for a decade multiple surgeries for TMJ. I have titanium jaws joints. Therefore, I am in pain a LOT. I know what the weather will do before it happens. I have debilitating migraines for ove half of almost every month. My Doctor who has been treating me had me on medication is now having to take the main medicine that works for me because another patient shot himself. While I am truly sorry that he killed himself I find it VERY a WRONG that now my medicine that worked is being taken away. I do not enjoy taking medication but it gives me some quality of life. Now, I am just spiraling back before we figured out what worked for me. I would also like to know why Marijuana has been on the Earth since forever. Why can Texas not make it legal? I personally don't think it should just be for medical use but in my case, it would prove to help a great deal. So, what am I suppose to do for my pain since my pain doctor is basically giving the meds that didn't work years ago? I just turned 50, I do not believe that Congress has a right to keep me from medication that works or making marijuana legal. Lord knows alcohol is available everywhere you turn. Unfortunately, that only gives me a migraine. I need help & in the NEAR FUTURE.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJul 7th, 2015Someone from Emerald Isle, NC writes:
ENDOMETRIOSIS is a brutal physical torture. This is a genetic debilitating disease that robs us of living a functional and productive life. We are born with it. It's genetic. We didn't ask for it and we don't deserve to be forced to suffer. MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE REGARDING ENDOMETRIOSIS AND PAIN THAT CAN ONLY BE DESCRIBED AS THE MOST BRUTAL PHYSICAL TORTURE. Giving birth without an epidural twice was not nearly as painful as Endometriosis. Endometriosis is tiny tumor-like masses that grow ANYWHERE in the body. It is NOT caused by periods. And it's not the same pathological material as is found in the uterus/ endometreum. These tumor-like masses behave much like cancer. Spreading all throughout the body. Eyes, brain, skin, arms, legs, intestines, bladder, liver, ANYWHERE. The tumor-like masses invade various organs and structures causing those organs and structures to become inflamed and bleed. The body's natural response to this is to form sticky glue-like scar tissue (adhesions) which bind/ glue the organs and structures to each other. Also, YES Endometriosis can be FATAL. But doctors do not seem to care about patients who have Endometriosis. There is NO CURE. At the least, please help me with the pain!!!! No one should be forced to suffer. And people who have Endometriosis did NOTHING to cause it. We are victims of this horrible disease and we also being victimized by doctors and a healthcare system who refuse to do their jobs. Whatever happened to ETHICS and DO NO HARM. Forcing people to suffer with this disease for DECADES IS HARMFUL. Too many people with Endometriosis have had to end their own lives because undereducated doctors refuse to help and are not up-to-date with the facts about this disease. Brushing us off and forcing us to suffer in isolation until we cannot bear to live any longer. SICKENING!!! This is not a 3rd World Country. America CAN and Should be doing better for Endometriosis patients of ALL AGES. Pregnancy is not a cure. Hysterectomy is not a cure. These are documented facts easily found in government medical publications.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJul 7th, 2015Someone from Dexter, OR writes:
I was looking for a new doctor after moving to a new state. On the phone with one clinic the girl says, "are you in pain? Because we arent seeing any patients who are in pain." Huh?!REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJul 6th, 2015Someone from Buford, GA signed.
Jul 6th, 2015Someone from Auburn, WA signed.
Jul 6th, 2015Someone from Port Richey, FL signed.
Jul 6th, 2015Someone from Manton, MI writes:
I would like to add that each patient should be considered on their own unique situations and not just lump all sufferers into the same box. This is why meds can be Rxed for off label uses, because most recommendations for treatment are just guidlines for the treatment of the majority, not every individual.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJul 6th, 2015Someone from Helena, MT signed.
Jul 6th, 2015Someone from Hillsboro, OH writes:
I,am a pain patient i have degenerative arthritis & fibromyalgia. I am a Stna, & have to work very hard & long hours, because I do not have an option, I have to work pain , or not. And because of the DEA's rules, I have to drive an hour each way, just to see a Pain Doctor, because the Primary care Doctors are afraid & refuse to treat Pain at all. My husband is disabled, so its up to me to work these long hard hours, to help be able to pay the bills. Please expain to me why I have to go through this, just to be able able to get the minimal help I get. I am not a Drug Addict, and I Do Not sell my medication. The DEA should not have the right to decide what kind of care I am allowed to receive. Now when I take my scripts to the Pharmacy, I am looked at & treated like a addict, or a criminal by the Pharmacist. This is wrong ! SO AS MY CONGRESSMEN, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT THE DOCTORS, DEA & PHARMACIST , treating legitiment chronic Pain patients this way. Because it is mentally & physically horrible to have to live this way, & be treated this way, just to have a decent quality of life. So Mr Congressman, what are you going to do ?? If you had to walk 1 week in my body, lets see how you would do !REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJul 6th, 2015Someone from Vacaville, CA writes:
EVERY DOCTOR who refuses to treat true pain is going against the Hippacatic oath that they signed agreeing not to harm their patients. As a true chronic pain patient..as God is my witness, untreated pain leads to my harm in many ways. My mental health , my physical decline, my not being a wife to my husband (close to divorce) ,my not being available to my kids (family problems) my not being a very good grandparent (guilt). You are harming me, by not helping me function like the rest of society and then punishing me for my illnesses. How is that right? It isn't. I won't back down..I will fight for myself and my new friends on here lol. Nobody deseves to live this way. Would you do this to your own family?? No you wouldn't. Have a damn heart! You will be judged accordingly, please keep that in mind.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJul 6th, 2015Someone from Akron, OH signed.
Jul 6th, 2015Someone from Venice, FL signed.
Jul 6th, 2015Someone from Orange Park, FL signed.
Jul 6th, 2015Someone from Hitchcock, TX writes:
I was at a stoplight when a truck slammed into my vehicle from behind...I suffered a severe whiplash injury that caused bulging discs in my cervical spine. This led to bone spurring, degenerative disc disease and eventually fibromyalgia. The pressure from the injured discs and muscle spasms has led to nerve damage. I spend every single moment of my life with pain in various parts of my body. By the time I saw my third pain management doctor I had been berated and made to feel like I was a junkie looking for a fix. And I still have not gotten the pain relief that I need to function properly in my daily life. I'm 38 years old and have two young children that need me to be active in their lives. I think someone from the the DEA should come and explain to my 4 year old why mommy can't get up off the couch right now and to my 7 year old why mommy can't come outside and play catch. I didn't ask for this. I was minding my own business and following all traffic laws when I was injured and now have to live with the fact that my health and my quality of life has been negatively and permanently altered. I just want to be able to function so I can take care of my kids.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJul 5th, 2015Someone from Priest River, ID writes:
It's not just the loved one that suffers, it affects the entire family. I watch my wife struggle everyday just so she can do something with her kids. All she wants is quality of life at the age of 35. Why is it up to the DEA, doctors and anyone that doesn't understand people in pain. We even have ways and means that help test treat and possibly in the near future reverse the effects of pain, or pain itself. We need to show that we can help those that that need our help without reject. Take this as a plea to help us that need it. Thank you for taking your time to read this and God bless.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJul 5th, 2015Someone from Priest River, ID writes:
I am a 35 y/o chronic pain patient. I have been diagnosed with DDD(back and neck), OA, fibromyalgia, chronic costochondritis, adenomyosis, PCOS and peripheral neuropathy. My PCP is afraid to help me get on a pain control regimen that would allow me to get a job and get off of social security. I have seen pain management doctors as well. They want to do expensive procedures that will only be effective for short term,yet they want me off of the only medication that has restored functionality to my life BECAUSE ITS AN OPIOID. Not because it is not helping. It is. Not because it is causing damage. Its not. I also have a therapist as part of pain management. He also works with substance abuse and is willing to back me up because, in his own words, he "Sees absolutely NO signs of addiction" in me. My PCP recently threatened to red flag me. Not because she thinks I need it, but but because she might get in trouble. All because I asked for an increase in the medication because it is not working for me. I can't even tell my doctor that I need a dosage increase or I am threatened. I want to know how my doctor or anyone else for that matter, could possibly know how much pain I am in, unless I come right out with it. I just want to be able to get a job and get off of social security. It would also be nice to be able to spend time with my kids before they grow up and move on. Why is that so hard? I deserve quality of life. I deserve an equal shot at the happiness that would come with being able to function EVERY DAY. I pray that none of those of you that are making it harder for us chronic pain patients to get the meds we need to function, ever have to go through what we do every minute of every day. You get up and go to the fridge, get in the shower, take a walk, watch a movie, brush tour own hair, get dressed, etc. and think nothing of it. We have to plan our days around what you take for granted. You also have the power to STOP THIS. We urge you to do so. We are not "throwaways". We are not junkies(most of us). We are not crazy or attention seeking. We are chronic pain patients. All we want is a life.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJul 5th, 2015Someone from Georgetown, IN signed.
Jul 5th, 2015Someone from Bradenton, FL signed.
Jul 5th, 2015Someone from Mount Dora, FL signed.
Jul 5th, 2015Someone from Fort Payne, AL writes:
Politicians and Government agencies need to GET out OF PAIN CARE!! Leave patient care to doctors ONLY! Our WAR Veterans are being left to suffer after standing in the way of bombs and bullets! There are hundreds of legitimate reasons why Americans have chronic pain. Politicians and DEA have no education in health care. PERIOD!REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJul 5th, 2015Someone from Saint Clair Shores, MI writes:
I am 25 to struggling with chronic bowel and bladder issues as well as pain from several car accidents. I was refused treatment and told that I was just " looking for something to be wrong".REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJul 5th, 2015Someone from Santa Fe, NM writes:
The "War on Legitimate Pain Patients" is not helping with the "Drug Abuse Epidemic." The DEA's Policies are not Scientific or based on Science or Statistics. Chronic Pain and other Pain disorders are well documented and not subject to uninformed opinions. The quality of life for people with chronic pain is seriously impaired the Policy Decisions of the DEA. I had a spinal injury that was misdiagnosed, leading to permanent disability. The Failure of the Doctors to even diagnose this, has had a really negative impact on my life. I had to go on Social Security, and I will never be able to work again. I know people much worse off than I am. I also follow pain research and information online and know there are a lot of people affected, by these ignorant Policy decisions. Pain Patients have no rights, so many have turned to suicide to escape the daily hopelessness. I could have been a productive member of society if I had only been diagnosed. People who do not have direct experience with this issue have no idea what is going on. Pain Patients are often labeled, and demeaned, because pain is often up to opinion. I have Imaging of my spine, yet they are mostly ignored. People with some conditions don't even have MRIs and X-ray to show they are in pain. Even with the imaging it is still up to uninformed opinion! Doctors are afraid to even diagnose pain conditions due to the fear of the DEA. Many have opted out of prescribing at all. We need some common sense and a Scientific approach to Pain Policy. Patients that speak up are labeled and stigmatized. There is no real Advocacy or help for people with these pain issues.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJul 5th, 2015Someone from Louann, AR signed.
Jul 5th, 2015Someone from Sioux Falls, SD signed.
Jul 5th, 2015Someone from Galt, CA writes:
Thanks Oboma ...now that everyone can't have pain meds..they surely can't hold down a job...you just jacked us up some more yaye! Well just look at it this way..you may have a better chance at social security?? More over the tipping point yaye!REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJul 5th, 2015Someone from Vacaville, CA writes:
I suffer from a horrid bladder disease and I am denied my medicine. I am now telling them that they are ignoring the Hippocratic oath that they signed when they became doctors in the first place. I was suicidal before they started treating my pain. I don't want to go there again. Please congress listen to your people! Please!!??REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJul 5th, 2015Someone from Vacaville, CA signed.
Jul 4th, 2015Someone from Daytona Beach, FL writes:
Stop ruining my quality of life. My pain is very real and no government agency has the right to say what meds I get or not. This is between my doctor and myself!!!!!!!!!REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJul 4th, 2015Someone from Helena, MT writes:
Because patients came to me for help, and because other physicians are confronted by unwritten rules, I have become an "accidental" pain doc. Accidental because a perfect storm has occurred in my state: Montana. Due to publicity that occurred around a 2 1/2 year witch hunt with the state board of medicine, I now have hundreds of people coming to me to seek relief. Many have weaned off opiates, many seem to be unable to. The DEA agents that came to visit me stated: "dr I sen, you are risking not only your license, but your freedom seeing patients like these" "What should I do" I said. "We can't tell you, we're not doctors" Meanwhile Violations of the Hippocratic Oath continue. The AMA code of ethics violated daily And Pharmacies refuse to fill my prescriptions, saying "I'm not comfortable" While patients experience refugee status. Human rights violations - right under our noses. All in the name of a mythical epidemic of prescription drug OD which nothing but the consequence of treating more pain patients over the last decade. It's actually a war on patients. The true epidemic is PAIN. 100 million Americans. 600 Billion impact on the economy. Pain IS a bloody terrorist.REPORT COMMENTS
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No, CancelJul 4th, 2015Someone from Parker, CO writes:
I suffer from chronic pain since a car accident in March of 2012. My Pain Management Doctor is unable to treat my chronic pain and ancillary mental/physical limitations in the best way possible due to the fear of being audited or punished by the governing bodies. Due to extensive government interference/limitations, many Doctors are now unable to leverage their education and experience to holistically treat patients. This is due to the fear of these governing bodies. Please allow our Doctors to leverage their education and experience in order to treat patients directly, and as they see fit!REPORT COMMENTS
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