My Story: Why Isn’t My Pain Covered?

My Story: Why Isn’t My Pain Covered?

My Story: Why Isn’t My Pain Covered?

http://nationalpainreport.com/my-story-why-isnt-my-pain-covered-8841427.html

My chronic pain treatment has not been covered since the CDC guidelines were published.

But the reasons my pain is not covered are different. It’s because of what I am. I’m an older white female.

Let me explain.

I have arthritis all over the place, yes; and this is the most common debilitating pain problem in the United States. I’ve had knee replacement surgery; my hands have had multiple surgeries for they are awash in stage IV arthritis. My spine, hips, SI joints, hips and left knee all have arthritis.

I have gone to extraordinary lengths to protect my bones and joints from both arthritis and osteoporosis. I strength train rigorously every week—as I have for 30 years. I also upholster furniture, alone, with my hands. If you saw my hands you would never suspect I have severe arthritis.

I am a psychotherapist. I specialize in treating professionals with dual diagnoses: professionals with substance use disorders. I understand addiction pretty well. I also understand professionals pretty well. And I have to say today I am ashamed to be part of my profession. Not because I am like those that precipitate these feelings in me. Because I am not like them. I am a pain patient and my pain is not being covered and I am furious and terrified about it.

My pain is literally killing me. Not lessening my will to live. Not making me depressed or anxious. MY PAIN IS KILLING ME.

Since my pain stopped being properly treated, I have been incapacitated between 24-36 hours a week, every week. It is as though I entered a time warp. I am aging at an astonishingly rapid rate. It is abnormal. Since my pain has not been adequately treated my level of functioning has declined beyond any other experience with illness that I have had. I have not been able to do my taxes in four years! Never before have I been unable to do my taxes.

I believe that one of the reasons chronic pain patients have been vilified is so that addictions professionals can have more patients and make more money. And that they are currently doing just that at the same time they fail to properly treat pain. The greed that accompanies a human being’s willingness to lay claim to a patient and keep her in pain in treatment in order to make more money is pretty repulsive to me. But I believe that is one part of the puzzle. If I was not an addiction specialist, I probably would not believe this. Imagine how popular I am in my field.

I also believe this is happening because it makes the DEA feel like they have some sort of handle on the problem identified as increased death due to opioid use. In other words, DEA agents and other people in positions of responsibility for drug control blame treating pain patients for changing the social mores, the social tolerance of opioid use. If our society had not become so lax, we would not have all these overdoses. People would not dream of using heroin laced with fentanyl if the stigma had not been altered by treating pain patients with opioids.

And there is another reason, perhaps the most significant reason why this is happening. Two social groups that suffer from chronic pain the most are aging white females and people of lower Socio-Economic-Status. two social groups are comprised of human beings that are not wanted, not valued by our society. Aging white females and people of lower SES are getting bullied by the amendment and administration of the pain policies in the United States today.

I have spoken to physicians who treat pain and their response to my challenges is pretty interesting. Upon approaching one physician with a sterling reputation for treating pain with the questions I have about the failure to treat my pain properly (I have extenuating circumstances, by the way) and he made no effort whatever to answer my questions. He met me with bristling hostility. Now, I did not approach him in the manner I am writing this article. I approached him as a humble patient suffering with pain that I do not believe is being properly medicated. I asked questions articulately and perhaps without the level of meekness he would have liked. But he just bristled with hostility. There was no way IN THE WORLD he was going to address my points. Because he couldn’t. There is no justification for the way my pain is mismanaged. And he hated me for making that clear.

My pain is not being covered because I am an aging white female being put in my place.

 

 

Patients left to search for new pain care after doctors arrested

https://wtov9.com/news/local/patients-left-to-search-for-new-pain-care-after-doctor-arrested

After three doctors of area pain clinics were arrested, patients were left with no care and without medicine.

Some are having a hard time coping.

“They said sorry, good luck to you and sent me on my way,” said patient, Doug Connor.

“They told me the office is closed and they can’t see me anymore,” said another patient, Shiree Valine.

Patients of Dr. Troy Balgo discussed their concerns since his arrest last week.

Balgo is the Belmont County Coroner, and he also operates two medical clinics in St. Clairsville: Valley Medical Management of Pain and the Belmont Urgent Care Center.

DEA agents, the FBI, the Ohio Pharmacy Board and local law enforcement conducted raids at both offices, along with two other locations belonging to doctors Freeda Flynn and Thomas Romano.

Since their arrests, patients are wondering where to turn.

“I still have meds for like another week. I don’t know what it’s going to be like a week from now, but it’s not going to be a positive feeling,” said Connor.

“Lately, my hands and feet have been swelling up from not having my medication,” Valine said.

It’s tough to cope without pain relief, and even harder for their families.

“It just makes you feel some type of way because I have to watch my mom suffer,” said Valine’s son, Austin.

Rick Massatti, with the State Opioid Treatment Authority, was on scene the day of the raids. He coordinated patient care and provided a list of other providers in Ohio and West Virginia.

“We recognize some of these facilities we’re referring people to might have wait lists, not accept their insurance, might be far away, might have roadblocks, but we are committed to ensuring continuity of care with the patients,” said Massatti.

Naloxone was provided at each site during the raids.

If patients are having trouble getting into a facility, here’s the next step—

“The first person you should talk to is your family doctor. They are going to be the ones to know the resources in the areas of which they live,” Massati affirmed.

Here’s a list of pain management clinics in the Ohio area:

  • Columbiana County: Thomas & Husain Medical Associates Inc., East Liverpool, OH reached at 330-385-4004
  • Guernsey County: Michael Sayegh M.D. Cambridge, OH reached at 740-607-8296
  • Tuscarawas County: Occupational Medicine Center of Tuscarawas County, LLC. New Philadelphia, OH reached at 330-339-9211

Fox cable now up to FOUR regular contributors that are PRO-OPIATE

Rite Aid Integrates NarxCare Analytics Directly into its Pharmacist’s Workflow in 12 States

Rite Aid Integrates NarxCare Analytics Directly into its Pharmacist’s Workflow in 12 States

https://www.valdostadailytimes.com/news/business/rite-aid-integrates-narxcare-analytics-directly-into-its-pharmacist-s/article_a2e7f76a-3011-5dc4-a51a-ae5910c09459.html

Rite Aid today announced a partnership with Appriss Health, provider of the most comprehensive analytics platform for opioid stewardship and substance use disorder (SUD) in the U.S., to deploy NarxCare into clinical workflow. Rite Aid has effectively implemented NarxCare in 12 States, including all of its Pennsylvania locations.

NarxCare utilizes, analyzes, and presents information from State Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMP) to enable pharmacists to more efficiently and effectively identify and manage patients at risk for Controlled Substance Misuse and Abuse. NarxCare equips pharmacists with advanced analytics, tools, technology, and invaluable insights that are presented and accessed directly within Rite Aid’s pharmacy management system.

NarxCare also provides machine learning and artificial intelligence-based patient risk analysis in a visually interactive format to support pharmacists’ dispensing decisions and state law compliance.

“NarxCare is another efficient and effective solution to help our pharmacists make responsible dispensing decisions, while mitigating possible controlled substance misuse or abuse,”

said Jocelyn Konrad, executive vice president, pharmacy and retail operations, Rite Aid. “The integration of NarxCare and PDMP information into our pharmacist’s workflow empowers them to focus more on building relationships with patients and improving health and wellness across the communities they serve.”

“At Rite Aid, patient safety and compliance are important priorities,” said Rob Cohen, President, Appriss Health. “We applaud Rite Aid’s efforts to rapidly deploy technologies to help reduce potential customer risk by leveraging the state PDMPs, utilizing an advanced analytics platform, and integrating these solutions seamlessly into their pharmacists’ daily workflow.”

While pharmacists have access to PDMP information, it can be difficult to navigate and analyze. With NarxCare in place, pharmacists are able to identify potential problems up front, in real-time, for every customer, every time they consider a controlled substance dispensation.

Pharmacists also have the support they need to better engage with their customers and determine the best course of action for them, while fulfilling their corresponding responsibility to ensure all controlled substances are filled for a legitimate medical purpose pursuant to a valid prescription within the scope of the prescriber’s practice.

About Rite Aid Corporation

Rite Aid Corporation, which generated fiscal 2019 annual revenue of $21.6 billion, is one of the nation’s leading drugstore chains with 2,464 stores in 18 states and pharmacy benefit management (PBM) capabilities through EnvisionRxOptions and its affiliates. At Rite Aid we have a personal interest in our customers’ health and wellness and deliver the products and services they need to lead healthier lives. Information about Rite Aid, including corporate background and press releases, is available through the company’s website at www.riteaid.com.

When Appriss Health first announced the introductions of Narxcare their PR releases seems to imply that they were going to include data on a person from any and all databases they could have access to… including not only PMP’s but also and/all electronic medical/health records and many/all public records, which could include arrest and other legal records.

As of today, their website on Narxcare  https://apprisshealth.com/solutions/narxcare/ there is no mention of those other databases being accessed and/or used to come to their determination of a “abuse risk score”.

Healthcare providers and pts are still having to deal with the inability of healthcare professionals to “validate” who they are really treating.  With the prevalence of stolen/fake/forged/fabricated ID’s…  Could the data filed under those non-validated ID’s cause some legit pts to be labeled unjustly as a potential substance abuser.

We have seen what the DEA has done with the CDC opiate dosing guidelines and seemingly come to the conclusion that they are now a valid standard of care and best practices and is disregarding the statements by the CDC and FDA that those guidelines have been grossly misapplied and continuing to apply their original determination as to the appropriateness that any healthcare practitioner not following those guidelines, are in fact providing controlled substances for illegitimate reasons.

There are other alternatives that could add a layer of positive ID on a person  https://www.clearme.com/  that is being used by airports/TSA for IDing a person using digital finger prints and facial recognition.  It wouldn’t really matter whoever the person claims is their name when they first sign up for this service…they will always be that person when using that service.  This system could put a serious dent in the business plan of the serious substance abuser or diverter getting prescription opiates and controlled substances via a legal route.

If this system is good enough for the TSA/airports to ID people, why isn’t all those bureaucrats complaining about all the opiate OD’s and deaths… not considering it for healthcare ?  Unless they are really happy with the status quo ?

I want everyone to know exactly what our Drs are going through, and why so many are scared to prescribe pain meds

I want everyone to know exactly what our Drs are going through, and why so many are scared to prescribe pain meds

 

D.E.A. Let Opioid Production Surge as Crisis Grew, Justice Dept. Says

D.E.A. Let Opioid Production Surge as Crisis Grew, Justice Dept. Says

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/01/us/dea-opioid-crisis.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/01/us/dea-opioid-crisis.html

The Drug Enforcement Administration authorized large increases in the production of painkillers even as the number of opioid-related deaths in the United States soared, the Justice Department’s inspector general said in a harsh review on Tuesday.

The watchdog office said that the D.E.A. was “slow to respond” to the opioid crisis, adding that more than 300,000 Americans have died of opioid overdoses since 2000.

“We found that the rate of opioid overdose deaths in the United States grew, on average, by 8 percent per year from 1999 through 2013 and by 71 percent per year from 2013 through 2017,” the review said. “Yet, from 2003 through 2013 D.E.A. was authorizing manufacturers to produce substantially larger amounts of opioids.”

The D.E.A., an arm of the Justice Department, is the federal agency that most directly oversees access to opioids.

“D.E.A. is responsible for regulating opioid production quotas and investigating its illegal diversion,” Michael E. Horowitz, the inspector general, said in a video on Tuesday. “We found that D.E.A. was slow to respond to this growing public health crisis and that its regulatory and enforcement efforts could have been more effective.”

For example, he said, the agency increased production quotas for oxycodone production by about 400 percent from 2002 to 2013, despite evidence that opioids were being overprescribed and misused.

The report said the D.E.A. did not capture enough timely data on opioid abuse or other drug trends. It also noted that the agency had “recently taken steps to address the opioid epidemic, but more work remains.”

A spokeswoman for the D.E.A. said in a statement that the agency “appreciates the O.I.G.’s assessment of the programs involved in the report and the opportunity to discuss improvements made to increase the regulatory and enforcement efforts to control the diversion of opioids.”

“The D.E.A. uses a wide variety of tools — administrative, civil and criminal — to fight the diversion of controlled substances,” she added. “While only a minute fraction of the more than 1.8 million manufacturers, distributors, pharmacies and prescribers registered with D.E.A. are involved in unlawful activity, D.E.A. continuously works to identify and root out the bad actors.”

The report noted that in 2013, there was a sharp decline in the D.E.A.’s issuance of immediate suspension orders, which it called the agency’s “strongest enforcement tool” because the orders can stop companies from distributing drugs.

The agency has attributed that decline to the end of two major operations in 2012, and it said in its statement on Tuesday that it had removed about 900 registrations, which are essentially licenses to handle controlled substances, every year for the past eight years.

Andrew Kolodny, a director of opioid policy research at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University who also testifies as an expert for government plaintiffs against pharmaceutical companies, said the review did not address the problems at the root of the opioid crisis — such as over-prescription of painkillers — because it was narrowly focused on the D.E.A.

“When you read the report, what you really don’t get out of it is that in almost every way in which the D.E.A. failed — except for the fact that they could have managed their data better — you have pharmaceutical industry and distributor industry influence,” he said.

The inspector general’s review comes at a critical moment in federal opioid litigation: A consolidation of nearly 2,300 cases from cities, counties and tribes nationwide seeking reparations for the epidemic.

The first trial, set to begin in Cleveland this month, pits two hard-hit Ohio counties against an array of drug manufacturers, distributors and retailers, which the plaintiffs blame for the crisis. But in laying substantial blame at the feet of the D.E.A., the inspector general has, in effect, given the drug industry defendants a powerful retort on the eve of trial.

Jan Hoffman contributed reporting.

some claim that a definition of SOCIALISM is when a bureaucracy CREATES a problem and then CREATE another/new/larger bureaucracy charged with dealing with the crisis that the bureaucracy created in the first place

Where your Rx dollars are really going to – pharmacy shows NEGATIVE 81% PROFIT

A pharmacist posted this. In what business would a -84% profit be acceptable? Imagine what would happen to any business where the middlemen who own similar businesses were allowed to take the profits of their competition and make them lose money for providing a service to patients! This is what’s happening to our pharmacists. This is unethical and must be stopped. PBMS such as Optum RX, CVS Caremark, and Express Scripts are doing this daily to your trusted pharmacists! Independent pharmacists’ survival is our survival. The ability to have patient care from a business without shareholders is vital to our lives and the future of pharmaceutical care and health care in general. Dear PBMs, employers, and insurance co’s, per consumer reports, PATIENTS PREFER INDEPENDENT PHARMACY! The original tweet: ” #ExpressScripts. Killing pharmacy 1 Advair diskus at a time. Hope UPMC Health Plan sees what their #PBM is doing to the small businesses that serve their customers”

 

Dr Feldman: announced lawsuits against numerous state medical boards

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Start listening at abt 28 minutes

Pain Pts should not be treated like addicts..It’s WRONG !

https://taniafortexas.com/

 

 

Five People Die Every Minute Due To Medical Harm, WHO Reports

Five People Die Every Minute Due To Medical Harm, WHO Reports

https://www.medicaldaily.com/five-people-die-every-minute-due-medical-harm-who-reports-443406

The World Health Organization (WHO) launched the World Patient Safety Day on September 17 in the hopes of making the public become aware of the growing issue on medical errors that negatively impacts healthcare. About 2.6 million people belonging to the middle- and low-income countries die every year because of incorrect medical treatment, according to a recent report.

“No one should be harmed while receiving healthcare,“ Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said.

Dr. Ghebreyesus added that at least five of patients’ lives are being claimed by unsafe care every minute.

Misdiagnosis, wrong prescriptions and medication errors are the most common reasons of these medical harm. Four out of 10 patients in primary care as well as those in outpatient treatment experience treatment errors, according to the report issued by WHO.

Prescribing the wrong list of medications has accounted for $42 billion annually and high-risk surgical procedures caused one million deaths in people each year, per the report. The WHO emphasized that improving patient safety would significantly cut the financial cost.

Once people get admitted to the hospital, they are exposed to potential medical errors. So how would one safeguard oneself or their loved ones from such harm?

It would be best to have someone by your side in order to protect yourself from suffering from incorrect medical treatment.

Raising questions regarding the medications given before taking them such as its indications and doses will also help. Healthcare providers would be willing to supply the necessary information out of diligence to make certain that they are also doing their job correctly.

According to research, about one out of five elderly patients in the U.S. are harmed by medical care. Those who are experiencing medical injury have almost doubled the rate of deaths in contrast to those who are receiving proper treatment.