Even CDC says if you do want to taper, and then only if the medicine is not working or is causing serious side effects, you have to taper slowly at 10% a month! NEVER ABRUPTLY if doctors or pharmacists try to to do so, report them to the medical or pharmacy boards. This is only done in the United States where the government is so frightened of people with addiction disease they suggest a nihilist approach to pain. It is more important to stop new addictions, which have not increased since 1920 anyway. Wrong treatment “harming pain patients” as the AMA has said June 16, wrong problem
Filed under: General Problems
A former doctor of mine had an epiphany when he saw Jane Ballantyne give a powerpoint presentation & decided all of his pain patients had to be taken off opioids. He insisted that my many health & pain issues were caused by the pain meds…even conditions which preceded my taking opioids by decades (now THAT’S a powerful medication!!). He declared that I would be taken off opioids completely, tapering 10% per month, then added “so you’ll be at zero in 3 months.” I just stared at him, wondering where he learned math. I never went back after that, tho miraculously managed to find a pcp who was willing to prescribe, tho at well under half the 90 MME “guidelines” or 1/3 my previous dose.
I assume he put in my records that he was going to (involuntarily!) taper me at 10% per month so I couldn’t try to charge him with anything, & hope that no one noticed that a 10% reduction per month takes a whole lot longer than 3 months to get to zero.
The problem is finding lawyers to do just that!