Meet The Bureaucratic Roadblock Behind New Restrictive Painkiller Rules
New federal rules governing narcotic painkiller prescriptions have taken a toll on countless thousands of veterans relying on them to treat pain from missing limbs and other conditions.
Over the past six months, many veterans have written me about problems they experienced getting refills for their controlled painkillers. These veterans with chronic pain suddenly hit roadblocks whenever they sought the medication they previously received without problems.
Come to find out, new opioid prescription rules from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are behind the roadblock. DEA created the new rules to curb perceived abuses of opioids nationwide. Instead of helping, veterans claim the new rules have caused a dramatic uptick in depression due to increased pain, panic attacks, and other problems associated with sudden withdrawals that result when the refills are suddenly stopped.
In dramatically curtailing access to the highly addictive painkillers, the government is trying to roll back what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has termed “the worst drug addiction epidemic in the country’s history, killing more people than heroin and crack cocaine.” The rules apply to “hydrocodone combination products,” such as Vicodin.
More than half a million veterans are now on prescription opioids, according to the VA.
Pain experts at the VA say that in hindsight they have been overmedicating veterans, and doctors at the Pentagon and VA now say that the use of the painkillers contributes to family strife, homelessness and even suicide among veterans. A study by the American Public Health Association in 2011 also showed that the overdose rate among VA patients is nearly double the national average.
To help veterans combat the changes in prescriptive rules, VA’s national director for pain management, Rollin Gallagher, implemented a policy for staff to meet personally with patients. I am unclear how meeting personally with patients dependent on the painkillers to treat missing limbs, cancer and related ailments will assuage the pain.
What do you think about the DEA rule change and how that affects veterans? Should the policies be applied differently at VA in light of the less common ailments veterans face in coping with the hardship of war causing more serious injuries than those faced by the general population? Were the rules created using the right statistical analysis or will they disproportionately harm seriously injured or sick veterans more than the overall American population?
Best I can tell, VA could have handled the change better and treated veterans affected with more compassion while they suffered through withdrawals. A big problem with the change was that VA failed to warn and did not explain exactly why they change was going on. Veterans that pushed for the painkillers they previously received were labeled as “drug seeking”.
Filed under: General Problems
whats a free country where is a pain friendly country i would love to move i figure what ever kills the pain or where ever kills the pain is better then the alternatives…
”When any form of government evinces by design,to reduce its veterans,& citizens to absolute despotism,it is our right to alter or abolish it,”
I’ve been going to the VA for over 25 years and they have it backwards as usual! First, i am not saying that opioids aren’t, strong medications. To explain what the real problem at the VA is i will use some examples and quotes from employees I’ve heard and experienced at the VA’s. many years ago, I overheard a Nurse telling a Vietnam Veteran with PTSD and who knows what else, “If we see THC in you urine test again, you won’t be able to come to the VA for healthcare anymore”! Overheard a Doctor say when talking about Veterans with PTSD “They need to understand that there is nothing we can do for them”! When talking to a psychiatrist that my Psychiatric medications aren’t working correctly and I requested a change to what they were during and explained the times i functioned much better and had less symptoms, I was told, “sounds like you are just making excuses” and refused to change my medications! What is a huge factor behind the way they make decisions, in my opinion with a long experience at VA’s and is now only going to get worse? Denial of care for mental illnesses and chronic pain issues is because of “labeling”! The labeling of the theory of a “brain disease” of addiction! Once you have been given that label, and it is more important to treat a symptom “addiction” by not treating the causes with medications, of that symptom and then blame the Patient/Veteran for their behavior. It isn’t the medications, it’s the way they use the labeling of “addiction” to blame the patient so they don’t have the failure of care on their record! I truly believe that when the VA staff doesn’t know what to do, making it the patients fault washes their hands of responsibility. In most cases it isn’t the medications, it is the way the VA functions! But, now they have another scapegoat, opiaites! The Veterans who used them to commit suicide, only did because it is harder to blow your brains out than take some pills. The ones who blow their brains out, are making a statement so we will see what is going on! In other words, the VA lies their asses off, daily! Last comment, I won’t say which employees, but several over time admitted to me that yes they “purposely” tried to make the choice program fail. Also another one said “yes we know the way the CDC guidelines were implemented was backwards”! One even agreed with me that they don’t understand why they treat the symptom of addiction and not the mental illnesses behind it, because of it! They don’t even follow their methodology in what they say addiction is!!
This has caused more problems in the Veteran community than the supposed drug problem itself. It’s complete BS. I am a 100% SC Disabled Vet and I saw this coming almost 3 years ago. At that time I contacted my Senator and insisted upon Civilian PM affiliated with the local hospital and was approved.
Now there are problems on the civilian side to, but I’m here to tell you nothing like what’s happening in the VA. The last update on this I received from my pharmacist and from the Patent advocate.
Pharmacist: The speed with which they have enforced this is unprecedented within the VA. Us pharmacist and Drs are extremely upset with what we are being forced to do to our ill and intractable pain patients. These orders come from the very top, but we are the ones on the front lines everyday and this is NOT the way to handle this, these patients and Drs were never the problem but they are the ones being punished.
Patient advocate: we received a new Memo from the top this morning insisting that all patients MUST be below 100mg MEE and they are beginning the audit of every single PC provider immediately. These Drs can have NO MORE than 3% of their patients on any Opioids. Period. If they do not comply, they will be fired.
This has now become rationing of pain care. Most of these Drs do care about their patients and now they are being forced into choosing whom deserves these medications and whom is just SOL. From Dr to LE officer, to basically sitting on a death panel.
They are killing us of, the top government that is and until Drs, pharmacists and Patients pull together and say NO MORE, they will take these from everyone and people will kill themselves.
THE GOV DOES NOT CARE.
I will admit I have been guilty of getting upset with some of the doctors I’ve seen. Not because they are being forced to make the decisions they make! But because they won’t just say, it like it is, On the other hand, I’ve seen two Doctors and a PA, leave the room, come back and tell me, essentially that the head doctor on the (TEAM), that was supposed to and was advertised to be “patient centered” told them they couldn’t because of the guidelines. I absolutely agree with you, that because of how it is at the VA, it is the beaurocacy. political healthcare, Statistical psychiatry of addiction is now the center piece of decision making in healthcare! Also, yes their some GREAT people at the VA.! I appreciate you saying it like it is at the VA as well at in the public sector! I was ablr to get out of the VA, at least for now. Never know what shim sham they will come up with next! The Doctor was way more professional and knowledgeable! As far as how the good people feel, I get it and it is complicated when careers and taking care of families are involved. I don’t hold that against them at all and am polite and grateful to them, they are at least being honest about the situation!! .”Drs can have NO MORE than 3% of their patients on any Opioids.” I will quote General Anthony Clement and say, “Nuts”!
To our veterans whom commented,,,,THANK U,,
If anyone knows of any veterans or chronic pain people whoms medicines have been lessen’d or forcible taken,or discriminated by this hourly 30 day prescription and live in Wisconsin,,please let me know,,I need a few good people to hop on board to add to the names of a formal complaint w/the aclu of wisconsin,,,,mary