It has been stated that AG Session is going to “reactivate”the war on drugs.. turn back the clock to the 90’s. Except in the early 90’s there was no Americans with Disability Act and the original act was “very vague” for Congress intended for the law to be defined in our court system… which would take years.. could that have been so that the ADA and the war on drugs could co-exist ?
Back then there was no FIVE STAR RATING system for Medicare/Medicaid.. which if pts file grievances.. the vendor’s (prescriber, hospital, insurance company, pharmacy/pharmacist) could be lowered if enough grievances are filed by pts for “bad care”. To www.cms.gov – 800 Medicare.
If the prescriber lowers the pt’s chronic pain medication(s) but doesn’t increase/decrease the pt’s medication(s) for the rest of the pt’s chronic conditions… then discrimination against the pts because of their medical conditions require treatment with a controlled substances could be claimed. And a complaint can be filed with https://www.ada.gov/filing_complaint.htm which is under AG Session’s Dept of Justice..
Elder/Senior Abuse laws are mostly at the state level.
If the prescriber claims that he/she is adopting the CDC guidelines… those guidelines are for acute pain pts… not chronic pain pts.. This means that the prescriber has adopted the CDC guidelines as their practice’s standard of care and best practices. Failure to adhere to their own policies can be considered MALPRACTICE and can also be used to document Elder/Senior Abuse and discrimination under ADA.
Here is four quotes from the CDC opiates guidelines:
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/rr/rr6501e1.htm
“The guideline is intended to ensure that clinicians and patients consider safer and more effective treatment, improve patient outcomes such as reduced pain and improved function.”
“Clinicians should consider the circumstances and unique needs of each patient when providing care.”
“Clinical decision making should be based on a relationship between the clinician and patient, and an understanding of the patient’s clinical situation, functioning, and life context.”
“This guideline provides recommendations for primary care clinicians who are prescribing opioids for chronic pain outside of active cancer treatment, palliative care, and end-of-life care.”
They are using “the laws” to control what/how much medical care that pts diagnosed with subjective disease and have a medical necessity for being prescribed controlled substances…. but… there are laws on the books to protect those same pts suffering from subjective diseases from being discriminated against and/or harmed/abused.
Pts need to document what the prescribers are stating… recording audio/video… ask for a copy of the practice’s policies and procedures concerning controlled substances prescribing, or the plan of treatment that the prescriber has prepared for treating a particular pt’s disease states.
Filed under: General Problems
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