Former patients of Dr. Frank Lazzerini worry they are stigmatized
The BUREAUCRATS are converting the doctor’s medical records to CD’s at the rate of 30/month.. it is not unusual for a prescriber to have 2500 pts… so some of the pts of this practice may have to weight SEVEN YEARS – OR MORE – to get a digital copy of their electronic medical records.
I guess that all the doctors in this community have no faith in the accuracy of Ohio’s prescription monitoring program (OARRS)… because if it is as good and accurate as the bureaucrats claims… those same doctors could have gotten a copy of at least the pt’s controlled substance prescriptions that they had filled.
Why couldn’t the local doctors taken the same initiative as some doctors in NY that came to the rescue of pts from a raided physician’s practice
Another case of DEA’s “ready.. fire… aim..”
No initiative or just a lack of backbone and balls ? Of course, the more chronic pain people that the DEA force into withdrawal, unrelenting pain and to the streets to seek some sort of relief… the more job security they have and the more reasons they have to ask Congress for more money to go after all of these ILLEGAL DRUG USERS..
Just another example of Congress creating the “black drug market” and then creating the mechanism (DEA) to deal with the black drug market and the DEA is just trying to perpetuate the need for their existence. Maybe those in Congress – all of them – who condone this perpetuating of this war on drugs… needs to find themselves “out on the street” after the next election in NOV ?
Sandra Pair said since police raided the Jackson Township office of her doctor in February, more than a dozen doctors have refused to accept her as a patient.
She, and several others The Canton Repository has interviewed, are worried they have been stigmatized because of an investigation into the practice of their former physician, Dr. Frank Lazzerini.
Police raided and seized medical records from Lazzerini’s family practice. Lazzerini closed his practice after the raid, a move that left some patients in limbo, despite no charges having been filed against the doctor.
Pair said she needed a new doctor to prescribe medications to treat herniated discs in her back, diabetes, depression, bipolar disorder and other issues. She also needs her medical records. Those are in the custody of agents of the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy, which was taking part in the investigation.
The 52-year-old Perry Township woman said she called at least 18 doctors and they either asked for her records to get an appointment or turned her away because she had been a patient of Lazzerini’s. None gave a reason why they were not taking any of Lazzerini’s patients, she said.
“I feel like we’re singled out like we’ve got the plague or something,” Pair said. “It’s like ‘Ohhhhh, stay away from them. … Because you’re (Lazzerini’s), you’re not entitled to medical treatment.”
Pair is one of several people who told the Repository they were patients of Lazzerini and have had difficulty finding a doctor willing to see them or prescribe them medication. They also said they’ve been unable to get their medical records.
On the way
Jackson Township Police Det. Jason Hall, who is working on the Lazzerini investigation, said the state pharmacy board contacted about 100 former patients and invited them to pick up a CD with their electronic medical records on May 13. Only about 20 to 25 showed up, Hall said.
He said investigators took the server with the electronic records during the raid and a vendor has been extracting the information and the data has been downloaded to a CD. The vendor has not yet completed extracting all the data nor prepared everyone’s CD. Investigators hope to contact the rest of Lazzerini’s patients — Hall did not know the number — at an later date for their records to be picked up. Hall said the records are available only when he’s scheduled because he has to check the patients’ ID before turning over the CD to them.
As for Lazzerini, the Jackson Township police and Stark County prosecutor’s office said they have nothing to announce.
Pair said the office of Lazzerini’s attorney referred her to the State of Ohio Pharmacy Board to get her records. But she said she hasn’t heard back from a compliance agent for the board.
Page 2 of 3 – A spokesman for the pharmacy board, Jesse Wimberly, said the board has had difficulty extracting the medical records from an electronic system. He said once the records are ready, the board will contact patients to inform them they can pick up their records at the Jackson Township police department.
Account from Akron
Larry Moore, 58, of Akron, said he saw Lazzerini for about 11 months. Lazzerini prescribed pain medication such as OxyContin, to address the pain from a fractured disc in his back and nerve damage in his arms due to a workplace accident and blood thinner medication, Moore said.
He said he went to a Summit County hospital seeking treatment, but the staff there said a doctor could not see him unless he had his prior doctor fax Moore’s medical records to them. But investigators had his records. Moore said when he told the staff he had been a patient of Lazzerini, “They said, we can’t see you.”
Moore said he called the state Pharmacy Board, the FBI and the Ohio Attorney General’s office seeking his records.
“Everybody I called told me that, every last one said, we can’t get the records released. They’re part of the investigation,” Moore recalled. “I need my medical records to get my medical treatment. No doctor wants to see you without records.”
Lazzerini’s attorney, Rick Pitinii, declined to comment.
Moore said Akron General’s emergency room finally referred him to a family medical practice, which agreed to see him. His first appointment is scheduled for later this month.
Blacklisted?
Some medical providers may fear being taken advantage of by those seeking painkillers to feed their addiction.
“If I was addicted to it, I’d be on the streets looking for it,” Pair said. “If I don’t need it, I’m not going to take it.”
Pair said her medication ran out in March and she experienced withdrawal symptoms.
Melissa Pastor, 31-year-old single mother of two in Canton, said she ruptured discs in her back in 2014 while lifting a crate. Pastor is the sister of Pair’s fiancee. She said after she saw an advertisement for his practice, she began getting treatment from Lazzerini in the spring of 2015. To treat back pain and sciatica pain in her legs, he prescribed her Percocet, muscle relaxants, and a steroidal medication, as well as medication to address her anxiety, weight gain and migraines.
Pastor said while she found Lazzerini to be an “awesome” and attentive doctor who “went the extra mile,” one thing that seemed unusual was Lazzerini would prescribe her 120 pills of Percocet, an opioid pain medication drug, to last her a month when she really only needed 60 pills. She said she only used what she needed. Two days before the raid, he prescribed her 180 pills. Pastor said Medicaid covered the cost.
Page 3 of 3 – “With the medication and stuff, I think he kind of went overboard on that,” Pastor said.
After the raid, Pastor said, she couldn’t get her records and several doctors’ offices and emergency care centers turned her away “they said because I was a patient of Lazzerini.”
“I still don’t have a family doctor because as soon as you say (Lazzerini’s) name, they will not accept his patients. … They wouldn’t accept his prescriptions,” Pastor said.
She said finally the AxcessPointe Community Health Center in Barberton agreed to see her and a doctor there gave her a referral to a pain management center.
“Whatever (Lazzerini) did, it’s like they’re putting all the blame on us,” Pastor said. “I don’t even know what he did. … It’s not fair doctors are turning us away because of Dr. Lazzerini.”
Reach Repository writer Robert Wang at 330-580-8327 or robert.wang@cantonrep.com. Twitter: @rwangREP
Filed under: General Problems
My doctor left and I was forced to a new primary and into pain management, then promptly abandoned by both because they refused to Rx tramadol for my degenerative condition that happens to not show on x-rays (not showing on films was their main reason saying I should not be on meds). They refuse to refer me to a different hospital and won’t return calls/emails. I can’t get calls returned from doctors I’m trying to get in to see. The other hospital chain here will not see me until 2017 because of my state insurance. I have not been able to eat solid food for a month and cannot even load the dishwasher without nearly fainting (from pain and my now out of control due to pain dysautonomia/POTS that is comorbid to my EDS). This goes way above and beyond people that got screwed by the DEA. You can just have your doctor leave and receive the exact same treatment just for being a pain patient, especially if you are young and/or have a condition that isn’t widely known about.
With patients like Melissia Pastor, no wonder why doctors don’t want to treat chronic pain patients.
No kidding…
Amen..