The above use to be on the Montana Medical Licensing Board’s website… yet sometime after 2008.. it was quietly taken down… and the Board has taken an aggressive stance against prescribers that prescribe opiates for pts with chronic pain…
Below is a reported quote from Vermont Medical Licensing Board… where did our healthcare system take this turn… against discriminating against those with subjective disease state(s) ?
David Herlihy, executive director of the Vermont Board of Medical Practice, reminded doctors that they can be conservative about dispensing medicines for chronic pain.
“We’ve never disciplined anybody for under treatment of pain,” he said
Filed under: General Problems
Doug: I rarely leave my apartment because of the pain; think about suicide at least once a day; and I’m living on aspirin and chocolate — and you want me to help organize? Just who do you think is going to donate to a cause about access to drugs? Heck, I’ve even written to the Drug Policy Alliance and received no response.
I’m not sure how to make this more plain, but pain patients are on our own. Not one doctor will stand up for us. Not one politician. No one in the media. No one with any power or influence whatsoever.
I’ve done a lot of research on how the gay community fought the AIDS battle, but I don’t see pain patients being able to do the same. Many in the gay community were professionals, with contacts and the ability to start their own medical research. But the professionals who suffer from chronic pain still have access to medications, so there’s no help from them. Pain patients are poor and disabled, barely struggling to hold on to what they have, like a roof over their heads and food on their tables.
I’m doing what I can with my blog, keeping pain patients informed on the forces aligned against us. (I’m not on Facebook, as I really dislike crowds and censorship.) Advocacy takes money, but it also takes time, and should start out locally. This isn’t a fight that will end anytime soon — this is the Drug War, and it’s been going on for decades. And so far, no one has been able to fight the DEA, including the billion-dollar medical industry. Including big pharma.
Perhaps I’m a pessimist, but I’ve watched the war against pain patients grow for 30 years, and I think I’m being realistic.
Doug,
It didn’t look clear I my comment but the post regarding going DC was from me ….Anne Fuqua
I really feel as if we really wish to get anything accomplished that a sizable group will have to travel to DC and confront law makers face to face. I myself have emailed a number of officials including President Obama regarding my predicament and only had one response from the freshman congresswoman from Michigan. She explained to me their reasons for the new law and when I rebutted her answer she never answered me back. Yes we should go to Washington but we need to get a whole lot more organized. I have begun to set up a page off from my regular page. It is Patients for Pain Relief on FB. Feel free to visit, like and share. The more the merrier
[…] https://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=10591#comment-10875 […]
Thinking about moving to Mexico because it’s getting really unpleasant in the US these days. At what time are the politicians, our elected officials going to start protecting the quality of life of the American people? What’s next, denial of Novocain when getting a tooth filled?
I myself, would love to find a non-opiate pain reliever that helps me as much as Hydrocodone does. To tell you the truth, if I didn’t have an allergic reaction to Marijuana in the past, I would be using it today for some relief. Unfortunately hives and throwing up just doesn’t seem that fun to me.
I would really like to know if anyone is planning to stage a demonstration of any sort? It might be cool to get millions of chronic pain patients in their motorized chairs along with Pharmacists and paid Specialist the slowly work their way up Pennsylvania Ave. from the Capital to the White House. This seems to work for others, why not us?
I can’t imagine saving enough money to travel to Washington, DC, besides how painful a trip like that would be. And I’m sorry about your allergic reaction, but it sounds more like you got some bad bud, maybe that contained pesticides, other chemicals, or mold.
That’s why I feel it’s necessary to organize. I feel that organizations supporting disabled vets, firefighters, police officers and many others would pitch in. It’s also common knowledge that organizations like the American Legion, FOP,Elks and several others will donate their halls and facilities for fund raisers for good causes.
Groups like the farmers in 1976, Gay rights in the 90’s and a lot of others. Organization is the key to donations. I would suggest going to My page on Facebook, Patients for Pain Relief and just maybe we can get this off the ground
Count me in if you want to make this happen. I’m in a wheelchair, have severe pain, and my doctor is being essentially bullied into lowering my dose – consequences be damned. Find me on fb as Anne Fuqua. You’ll see I’m a part of several pain advocacy groups and I’m wearing a pink bandana in my picture.