Email steve@steveariens.com 502-938-2414
Pay Attention
https://www.smithsonianchannel.com/shows/drinks-crime-and-prohibition/1005389
This is a interesting two part series about the early part of our 20th century and there are a lot of similarities and parallels with what was going on then before,during and after alcohol prohibition and what our country has had to deal with … with the drug cartels and trying to impose a opiate prohibition.
Filed under: General Problems | Leave a Comment »
https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2018/11/02/dea-releases-2018-national-drug-threat-assessment-0
WASHINGTON – DEA Acting Administrator Uttam Dhillon today announced results of the 2018 National Drug Threat Assessment, which outlines the threats posed to the United States by domestic and international drug trafficking and the abuse of illicit drugs.
“This report underscores the scope and magnitude of the ongoing opioid crisis in the United States,” said Acting Administrator Dhillon. “The information in the report represents data and critical intelligence from our law enforcement partners that was gathered over the past year. This report highlights the necessity of using all the tools at our disposal to fight this epidemic, and we must remain steadfast in our mission to combat all dangerous drugs of abuse.”
Among the key 2018 NDTA findings:
Illicit drugs, as well as the transnational and domestic criminal organizations that traffic them, continue to represent significant threats to public health, law enforcement, and national security in the United States. In 2016, approximately 174 people died every day from drug poisoning, outnumbering deaths by firearms, motor vehicle crashes, suicide and homicide. The opioid threat – including controlled prescription drugs, fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, and heroin – has had a devastating effect on our country.
In 2017, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl were involved in nearly 30,000 deaths, and from 2016-2017, Mexican heroin production grew by 37 percent. Mexican cartels continue to make large quantities of cheap methamphetamine and deliver it to the United States through the Southern border. Seizures at the border increased from 8,900 pounds in 2010 to nearly 82,000 pounds thus far in 2018.
New enforcement priorities and programs implemented by the Justice Department and DEA will positively impact our communities and ultimately save American lives. The Department of Justice has aggressively targeted the opioid crisis through robust manpower and funding, enabling federal law enforcement agencies like the DEA to conduct enforcement operations that target anyone violating the Controlled Substance Act.
In the past year, the Justice Department and DEA have engaged in new projects and initiatives to combat this scourge. DOJ and DEA established Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge, a new program seeking to reduce the supply of deadly synthetic opioids in high-impact areas and identify wholesale distribution networks and suppliers, both domestic and international; added additional heroin enforcement task forces; brought the indictments of two Chinese fentanyl traffickers, Jian Zhang and Xiaobing Yan; extradited Mexican drug traffickers; reduced the aggregate production quota; emergency scheduled all forms of illicit fentanyl; assigned special federal prosecutors to prosecute opioid-related investigations; authorized the hiring of more than 400 additional task force officers; and continue to work with the Chinese Government resulting in further controls being placed on fentanyl analogs, and related substances.
This month, the Justice Department announced new measures to dismantle transnational criminal organizations. The creation of a Transnational Organized Crime Task Force of prosecutors will coordinate the DOJ’s efforts to fight transnational organized crime. The task force will focus on top transnational organized crime threats that include MS-13, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, the Sinaloa Cartel, Clan del Golfo and Lebanese Hezbollah, a majority of which are included in DEA’s National Drug Threat Assessment.
The National Drug Threat Assessment provides a yearly assessment of the many challenges local communities face related to drug abuse and drug trafficking. Highlights in the report include usage and trafficking trends for drugs such as prescription drugs, heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana and the hundreds of synthetic drugs.
The assessment factors in information from many data sources such as drug seizures, drug purity, laboratory analyses, information on the involvement of organized criminal groups and data provided to DEA by state and local law enforcement agencies across the country.
Filed under: General Problems | Leave a Comment »
I saw this “I WANT JUSTICE” stated by a chronic pain pt somewhere on the web in the last week. So “you” want justice out of our judicial system that is mostly self-serving. Our judicial is basically can be divided into two segments courts/attorneys and cops/law enforcement.
One has to ask if some of the shows that we see on TV …. Bull, Blue Bloods, Chicago PD… comes to mind… reflects how those parts of our judicial system really act/function ?
We are seeing more and more “video” from cops’ body cameras… some showing the “good side” of law enforcement and some the “not so good side”.
I can’t count the number of times that pts have told me that they have tried to file a complaint with the agency that is suppose to enforce the Americans with Disability Act and get a “not interested” from the agency, but they are part of the DOJ, just like the DEA is.
Two decades ago we saw a group of attorneys (46 state AG’s) sue the tobacco industry for the harm/cost of them selling a legal product and extracted/extorted a minimum of 206 Billion that is to be paid off over 25 yrs… and that will be coming to a end in the next five years or so.
Now some of those same attorneys are now lining up to sue all the parts of the opiate pharmaceutical manufacturers and those in the distribution channels. I am just waiting for them to start including the insurance/PBM industry in these lawsuits because they did – to some extent – facilitate all of these opiate prescriptions because they paid some/most/all of the cost of these opiate prescriptions.
All one has to do is visit http://doctorsofcourage.org/ website to read about the many fabricated cases the DEA has brought against all too many doctors and confiscated all of the doc’s assets and closed their practices. Kind of reminds you of the stories that were told about the Mafia that extracted/extorted money from small business for “protection insurance” so that their small business would not “put out of business” by some tragic event.
IF you have noticed all of these lawsuits at the pharma/opiate industry is being done by private law firms on a contingency basis. So the bureaucracy .. who claims that it has suffered financial damages from the “opiate crisis” they are not even putting any of the taxpayers’ money to seek restitution.
Should the chronic pain community follow the state/federal bureaucrats in how to hopefully “level the playing field” ? It would appear that no law firm is going to take on this issue on a contingency basis. Entities like the ACLU and other who try to fight for people who have their civil rights violated seem to have no interest. There is claimed that there is 20 -30 million pts suffering from intractable chronic pain and while most all of the talking head talk about the 200 odd million opiate prescriptions being TOO MANY…
Just to treat the 30 million intractable chronic pain pts would take 720 million opiate prescriptions if prescribers followed the standard of care and best practice in treating intractable chronic pain pts. When you throw in the opiate needs of the other odd 70 million chronic pain pts and those pts suffering from acute pain caused by accidents, surgery and other valid issues… could easily push that number closer to TWO BILLION opiate prescriptions. Close to TEN TIMES what the “talking heads” claim are TOO MANY.
What are the chronic pain community’s options ? – IMO – it boils down to TWO… continue to suffer as the attorneys/DEA force more and more pts off their opiate pain management buy intimidating and bullying prescribers… — OR — create a non profit legal defense fund. If 10% of the chronic pain community each contributed $5 – ONE TIME… FIVE MILLION legal defense fund could be created.
Law firms will be lining up to demonstrate how they could level the playing field for the chronic pain community.
IMO… the chronic pain community needs to come together and that doesn’t mean thousands of Face Book pages, and other internet contact points or the DEA and the rest of our judicial system will hand their painful ass to them as we watch the number of suicides climb exponentially.
Filed under: General Problems | 2 Comments »
CVS Health is probably a little ahead of the pack…but.. they all seem to be going in the same direction. They are seemingly moving toward what Obamacare wanted to happen when it was passed nearly a decade ago … Accountable Care Organization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accountable_care_organization
One entity that would “take care” of all the pt’s medical needs and being paid a flat $$$/pt/month for whatever the pt’s healthcare needs were.
Right now under the CVS Health umbrella has abt 10,000 community pharmacies, the largest nursing home pharmacy (Omnicare), the PBM Caremark, the Part D insurance (Silver Scripts), specialty pharmacies, walk-in Minute Clinics and before the end of the year they will have some 42 million beneficiaries with the acquisition of Aetna Health Insurance. To complete the circle all they need to do is acquire or align/merge with a large hospital system.
Now we have Walmart and Anthem collaborating especially with Medicare Advantage and Part D pts having Anthem insurance and Walgreens and Humana doing some sort of a merger.
One can only imagine the financial incentives – disincentives if a person is a beneficiary of one of these insurance companies. CVS is already with Medicare folks that have their Silver Scripts insurance … they pay higher copays … unless they get their prescriptions filled at a ‘preferred pharmacy” and in my area.. all the “preferred pharmacies” are CVS stores. For me the closest CVS store is 8 miles in one direction and 12 miles in the opposite direction.
In the county that I live in there are TWO CVS Stores – abt 0.5 miles apart (one is former Target).. the county to the west there is ONE STORE and the county to the east has THREE.
CVS just recently announced that there Minute Clinics were going to start treating CHRONIC CONDITIONS.. until now.. all the walk in clinics in most chain pharmacies are there to treat acute health issues, give vaccinations, school health physicals and the like. Is this change so that they can “encourage” there soon to be acquired 42 million Aetna beneficiaries to switch from their normal PCP to their minute clinic ? Will that “encouragement” eventually turn into “mandatory” ?
Filed under: General Problems | 2 Comments »
https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2017/11/13/senators-pressured-dea-to-cut-rx-opioid-supply
By Pat Anson, Editor
A group of 16 U.S. senators played an influential role in getting the Drug Enforcement Administration to make further cuts in the supply of opioid pain medication, the latest example of how politicians have inserted themselves into the healthcare choices of Americans.
As PNN reported, the DEA published an order last week in the Federal Register that cut the 2018 production quotas for Schedule II opioid painkillers by 20 percent. It’s the second year in a row the DEA has ordered steep reductions in the supply of opioids. The move affects several commonly prescribed medications that millions of pain patients rely on for relief, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine and codeine.
The DEA acted even after drug makers and patients warned the agency that the cuts were so severe they could lead to shortages of pain medication. Under federal law, the DEA sets production quotas for manufacturers of opioid medication and other controlled substances. This year the agency reduced the amount of almost every Schedule II opioid medication by 25 percent or more.
The 16 senators – 15 Democrats and one independent – have been urging the DEA for months to go even further to reduce the risk of opioid painkillers being abused.
“As the gatekeeper for how many opioids are allowed to be sold legally every year in the United States, we commend DEA on taking initial steps last year to lower production quotas for the first time in a generation,” Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois wrote in a letter to DEA Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg on July 11.
“However, the 2017 production quota levels for numerous schedule II opioids remain dramatically higher than they were a decade ago. Further reductions, through DEA’s existing quota-setting authority, are necessary to rein in this epidemic.”
SEN. DICK DURBIN
Durbin’s letter was co-signed by 15 of his Senate colleagues: Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Edward Markey (D-MA), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Al Franken (D-MN) and Angus King (I-ME).
Durbin followed up with a personal meeting with Rosenberg at DEA headquarters on August 3. The meeting was also attended by Senators Brown, Shaheen, Manchin, Markey and Hassan.
“I commend Administrator Rosenberg for acknowledging that the DEA can do more to keep dangerous painkillers off our streets,” Durbin said in a statement after the meeting. “In today’s meeting, I asked him to continue this effort and further lower the opioid quotas for 2018. Fewer pills on the market means less addiction and, hopefully, fewer deaths.”
The August 3 meeting is important, because the very next day the DEA announced it would publish a notice in the Federal Register that it was planning a 20% reduction in Schedule II opioids for 2018.
rosenberg (left) meeting with durbin and other senators
The notice opened up a 30-day public comment period on the DEA’s proposal. Over a hundred people wrote in, most of them pain sufferers who warned the DEA it was going too far.
“The quotas for 2017 caused some shortages at pharmacies. I do not understand the reasoning behind more aggressive production quotas for 2018. People I know who are long term chronic pain patients have gone to the pharmacy for their prescription and are told that it will be a week or 10 days to fill the prescription,” wrote Marjorie Zimdars-Orthman. “It is cruel to implement quotas that will cause pharmacy shortages.”
“This is just beyond insane. Far too many people are already suffering and committing suicide due to not being able to get proper pain management,” said Eric Busch. “Even those that find a doctor willing to actually treat the pain humanely and write a prescription, might not be able to fill said prescription if there are artificial quotas and shortages.”
“How can the government ensure that these quotas will not adversely affect pain patients?” asked Brian Teer, whose wife has suffered from chronic pain for nearly 20 years. “I implore you to consider the medical needs of unfortunate patients like my wife, who face the burden of untreated intractable pain. Please do not reduce the production of the very medications that she needs to continue living. Please do not take her life.”
The DEA said three unidentified drug makers also made comments, warning that the 2018 quotas for codeine, fentanyl, hydrocodone, methadone, morphine, oxycodone and oxymorphone “were insufficient to provide for the estimated medical, scientific, research, and industrial needs of the United States.”
The only comment left in support of the 2018 production quotas included a second letter from Durbin and his colleagues, warning that opioid supplies “remain far too high.”
“Given everything we now know about the threat posed by opioids and DEA’s downstream efforts to tackle this problem, there is no adequate justification for the volume of opioids approved for the market,” the letter said.
In the end, the DEA sided with the 16 senators, ruling that the 2018 opioid quotas were “sufficient” to meet the needs of patients. The agency dismissed the comments from pain sufferers as medical complaints that were “outside of the scope” of its final order.
“These one hundred and six comments did not provide new discrete data for consideration, and do not impact the original analysis involved in establishing the 2018 aggregate production quotas,” wrote Robert Patterson, who became acting head of the DEA after Rosenberg resigned unexpectedly in September.
Opioid Quotas Should ‘Continue to Come Down’
Sen. Durbin and his colleagues are apparently not done yet, and may seek to rein in the supply of opioids even further in 2019.
Durbin recently joined with Sen. Markey in introducing the Opioid QuOTA Act, a bill that seeks more transparency from the DEA in disclosing how it sets opioid production quotas. The legislation would require the agency to list on its website the production quota for each opioid manufacturer, information that the DEA now considers confidential.
“The public deserves the right to know which drug companies are manufacturing these opioids, how many they are producing each year, and their justification for asking the DEA to approve their ever-increasing quota requests,” Durbin said in a statement.
“Our work will not be done until these quotas continue to come down, doctors become more judicious in their prescribing, drug companies stop misleading the public about their products, and we do more to help those who are currently addicted get treatment.”
Along with Durbin and Markey, the legislation is co-sponsored by Senators Manchin, Brown, Shaheen and Hassan – the same group of senators that met with the DEA administrator in August and pressed him to make further cuts in the opioid supply.
This is another good example that we have well intention “idiots” in Congress… and since only a couple of seats in the Senate were turned over in the recent election.. meaning no one bothered to pay attention that only ONE SENATOR from UTAH VOTED NO on a bill that was a composite of some 70 odd bills to help TREAT ADDICTS and would do NOTHING TO TREAT CHRONIC PAINERS. This bill was voted on BEFORE THE NOV 2018 ELECTION.
“They” throw around the figure that 200 million opiate Rxs/yr is TOO MANY… apparently they don’t know – or care – about what has always been the standard of care and best practices for treating chronic pain.
It is claimed that there is some 20-30 million intractable chronic painers – meaning that they need opiates 24/7. Best practices and standard of care suggests that these people need 24 Rxs/yr – each being 30 days.. Let’s take the medium number of 25 million .. those intractable chronic pain pts will need 600 million opiate prescriptions to help manage their pain and meet what has always been best practices and standard of care.
That is THREE TIMES what the “know-it-all bureaucrats” claims is EXCESSIVE.. That leaves NO OPIATES for the 70 odd million of chronic pain pts that are probably able to get by with NSAID’s and taking opiates on a semi-regular basis and NO OPIATES for anyone dealing with acute pain or surgically induced pain.
No one really knows how many opiate Rxs are really needed – it is probably in the BILLIONS… it is certainly not LESS THAN 200 MILLION.
If you bothered to read the article – or my opinion – NOT ONE REPUBLICAN SIGNED THIS LETTER.
If you look back in history it was a Democratic controlled Congress that passed the Harrison Narcotic Act 1917 and the Controlled Substance Act 1970
It was a Republican controlled Congress that passed the Medicare Part D bill and the “Decade of pain legislation ” 2000
Filed under: General Problems | 3 Comments »
Filed under: General Problems | Leave a Comment »
I left Walgreens after a pharmacist was nasty with me. I remained civil and left the store. My caregiver called with me in the room. He was rude to her and hung up the phone unprovoked. He then lied to me and claimed she screamed profanity at him. It simply never happened.
I called corporate and was informed they back pharmacists when dealing with opioid prescriptions.
I asked, “Even if they are rude and unprofessional?” Answer YES…I asked,” What if they lie to a patient?” The woman actually told me, ” If you are a pain patient we back our pharmacists no matter what occurs.” To me, this screams discrimination. I found another corporation to supply my medication.
Filed under: General Problems | 2 Comments »
Man dead from self-inflicted gunshot wound inside Nashville VAhttps://fox17.com/news/local/police-responding-to-self-inflicted-gunshot-wound-inside-nashville-va
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — UPDATE:
Metro Police have confirmed a man is dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside the Nashville Veteran Affair’s Medical Center.
It happened just after 9 a.m. Friday inside the main lobby of the facility at 1310 24th Avenue South.
The victim was transported to the Emergency Room at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Police have since confirmed the victim, an adult male, has died.
Investigators remain on scene.
If you or someone you know needs assistance in preventing a crisis or suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at Call 1-800-273-8255.
Metro Police are responding to a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the Nashville Veteran Affair’s Medical Center.
It happened just after 9 a.m. Friday inside the main lobby of the facility at 1310 24th Avenue South.
The victim is being transported to the Emergency Room at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Filed under: General Problems | 3 Comments »
OPEN LETTER TO ELECTED OFFICIALS & POLICY MAKERS:
TO: All State and Federal Elected Officials & Government Agencies
RE: An Open Letter From a Severe Intractable Pain Patient Regarding The Unintended Consequences Harming Legitimate Pain Patients in the Wake of the Illicit Drug Overdose Epidemic
Greetings,
Do our leaders have the mental capacity to comprehend the gravity of what people living with constant, unrelenting pain have to endure on a daily basis? Aside from the physical symptoms, the emotional and mental repercussions are unfathomable to most.
Our bodies are riddled with physical intractable pain and insurmountable limitations, but does anyone consider the mental aspect of living in a constant state of anxiety, depression, and fear of losing our doctors and our medications?
I’ve had the unfortunate reality of living with several horrendously painful, incurable diseases and illnesses for over 25 years. I’ve undergone close to 20 surgeries and tried every last modality, treatment, and non opioid medication under the sun to no avail. I made an informed decision to begin a strict opioid pain medication management regime approximately 20 years ago which had been a Godsend for me and afforded significant pain control & a moderately functional quality of life.
However, as a result of our government’s attempt to combat the nation’s OVERDOSE crisis, my nightmare began in February 2018 when my doctor was forced to reduce my pain medications by more than HALF, and has decreased it every month since then. This drastic measure has ripped away the only relief I was able to achieve, which has left me mostly bed ridden and home bound.
Every week, we hear our Government Agencies boast about the DOJ/DEA raiding, shutting down, or sanctioning several reputable doctors across our country leaving thousands of patients scrambling to find another doctor to take over their pain management which is next to impossible.
Unfortunately, my doctor of 10 years was among the growing list of targets and was shut down in August, leaving his patients including myself with no meds and no doctor. This inhumane practice is happening to countless prescribers and pain patients across the country. We are being discounted and overlooked for no justifiable reason and through no fault of our own. Why are we being continuously ignored and left out of the conversation?
Does anyone at the State or Federal Level realize the amount of damage and needless suffering these draconian, inhumane policies are causing and forcing upon millions of chronically ill Americans?
Where’s your OUTRAGE & FERVOR over protecting our rights?
Why is no one standing up and mobilizing, protesting, shouting, chanting, or speaking out about the atrocities being inflicted upon those of us in the pain community who are suffering in silence?
Pain does not discriminate. It affects people from ALL walks of life and can strike any one at any time. I wouldn’t wish this agony and torture on my worst enemy.
So, why is it that not ONE single elected official is willing to CHAMPION our cause and fight for the lives of cancer patients, chronic intractable pain patients, disabled veterans & wounded warriors, post surgical, trauma & accident patients, or palliative care & hospice patients?
Our government does NOT belong in our Doctors office and shouldn’t meddle with our health care decisions or treatment period.
Let’s make one thing clear…pain patients and prescribers are NOT the problem!
The overdose crisis is being fueled by ILLEGAL drugs including heroin laced with deadly (IMF) illicitly manufactured Fentanyl, Carfentanil (aka elephant tranquilizer), its analogs, and black market counterfeit look alike pills — NOT by legitimate doctors or pain patients diverting our opiate pain medication.
We have no CHOICE, unlike so many others who CHOOSE to abuse whatever substance is available to them. If we want pain relief, we must follow a maze of invasive procedures and excessive rules every month and jump through voluminous hoops just to obtain our legally prescribed pain medications in order to have a somewhat normal, bearable quality of life.
We take our pain medications responsibly as prescribed & directed without issue. However, there is no proverbial box that each and every one of us fit into, and our doctors should not be limited to prescribe a maximum, arbitrary dosage because every patient has various illnesses and different, complex needs.
Yet, after going through this seemingly endless merry go round each month, our choices are narrowing and our rights dwindling with every new regulation, restriction, and arbitrary attack on our doctors’ ability to prescribe our life saving, necessary pain medication.
Please leave our doctors alone and allow them to prescribe opioid pain medications for chronically ill patients as they see fit. Anything beyond that is a blatant infringement on the sacred doctor patient relationship.
Government/Law Enforcement Agencies should pursue ILLEGAL drug dealers, traffickers, producers, suppliers, and cartels. They should not be wrongfully and deceitfully targeting, surveilling, sanctioning & prosecuting physicians and prescribers for doing their job which they’ve been thoroughly trained and schooled to do.
If this cruel and INHUMANE behavior is allowed to continue, it will go down in history as the darkest, most flagrant violation of the rights of MILLIONS of Americans who are among the weakest, most vulnerable segment of our society!
We are terrified, our lives have been turned upside down because our government is instilling this unjustified fear in legitimate doctors and pain patients like myself. We are already suffering from unimaginable pain, and now we’re being looked down upon by society and instantaneously judged by our families and friends because of preconceived notions about weakness, inability to “fight through” the pain, and of course, subjected to the irresponsible myth and stigma being perpetuated by the mainstream media who refuse to acknowledge the difference between “addiction” vs. “dependence” on opiate pain medication to have a decent quality of life.
How much longer do we have to suffer the consequences and prove ourselves to the entire chain of command until we are taken seriously and afforded the same rights and respect given to the miniscule faction of our population who suffer from addiction? Are our lives not just as important and deserving?
Why should we be punished because of people who make a CHOICE to abuse legal and illicit/illegal substances for non medical purposes?
We have no CHOICE in the matter.
We were never given a CHOICE to begin with.
We comply with the OUTLANDISH rules & regulations created by government entities in order to receive our pain medication.
However, we are growing weary because of the exhaustive and inhumane conditions we are forced to suffer through just to survive another hour, another day, another week, another month….
How many more innocent lives need be lost until our government decides that enough is enough?
We are being thrown to the wolves and feel expendable and worthless leaving many to make drastic choices out of desperation to escape the debilitating pain.
I’ll admit that the thought of suicide has crossed my mind like thousands of others, and I’m terrified that I too will become a statistic of collateral damage. But our fight here is too important, so I continue to push myself each and every day to advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves. However, I’m not sure how much longer I can stay in this fight. My body is getting weaker and is beginning to shut down.
We need a true HERO to sponsor and introduce a Pain Patients & Physicians Protection Policy and Bill of Rights. Will you be that HERO?
Or will you continue to sit on your hands, bow your head, and follow the herd by choosing to ignore the plight of millions of law abiding American citizens and beloved veterans?
Our time is running out….But YOU can be responsible for saving MILLIONS of innocent lives during this terrifying time of uncertainty. I respectfully request a meeting with you to discuss this matter further and offer some common sense solutions to this dreadful, yet preventable situation.
Will you please help us?
Thank you for your consideration.
Respectfully submitted,
Andrea Patti
Pain Warrior & Patient Advocate
War on Pain Patients: https://www.facebook.com/waronpainpatients/
Filed under: General Problems | 2 Comments »
Sooo… After 6 years, the Nashville VA Medical Center has made the determination that my triple amputee husband no longer needs a full-time caregiver. Effective immediately.
I mean… he IS pretty bada*s and all but it sure is a major blow that driving him everywhere is my “spousal duty” or helping him put his prosthetics on daily is a just a normal part of married life. Lifting wheelchairs 10+ times a day- yup, should have been included on the marriage certificate according to the VA.
Who at the VA made this decision you ask??… Wait for it…
A Women’s Health Doctor. An OB/GYN at the Nashville VA decided my husband doesn’t need me. Cool. 😐
Friends– I URGE you to PLEASE call your local and state representatives, E-mail them, GO visit them- this is INSANE. And unfortunately, I’m just a minuscule part of this MUCH Larger problem. I’ve only been lowered tiers as of now but chances are, I’ll likely be completely removed from the program when they receive my appeal as this just happened to my good friend Jessica Collins Allen who cares for her double amputee husband, Read her story here: http://bit.ly/2FrMNxT
Please, caregiver friends… prepare yourselves. You think you’re safe in the program. No one is safe!
*Edited to add- Feel free to share, I attempted to reach my CG “Support” Coordinator 6 times on Friday before posting this but with no success. So, as always Y’ALL are the BEST support.
**WANT TO HELP? Share & Help Bring awareness for the caregivers out there &
Click the ‘Town Hall’ Feature on your homepage to find your FEDERAL Representatives and give them a shout!
No matter my outcome, I’ll never stop fighting for caregivers to get the help they need. This is unacceptable.
Filed under: General Problems | Leave a Comment »
