Sick and tired of being in pain, he pulled out a gun, shot a hole in the office door, aimed the gun barrel at his head and ended his hurt once and for all.
As a longterm pain patient with a current unsupportive pain dr, I just thought I’d share the reality of the position I’m in right now…
I’m in very bad pain all the time for very legit and well documented reasons. My pain dr however never gives me enough meds to help me. He just keeps reducing them, which is causing me to be in even more pain and suffer so much more. My quality of life also continues to go downhill at the same time. I was just given a letter by him recently too about some study indicating an increase in deaths if you take opioids and benzos. It stated he’s no longer going to give pain meds to anyone who is taking a benzo. I take one, because I have to, for a seizure disorder, not because I want to. He told me to pick one or the other though, plus went ahead and reduced my pain meds some more. He doesn’t seem to care the least bit. I’ve looked hard and so far I can’t find another one to get in to see near me at this time, but I’m desperately still trying. Unfortunately, they’re few and far between here, in addition to the wait for an appointment being long. I’ve even called hospice for help. So far, they haven’t been of much help either, because I don’t have a dr who will say I have six months or less to live. I told them either choice my pain dr is giving me is very inhumane, so I’d rather just quit eating and drinking, to the point where I pass away from that, while I get some kind of comfort care from them. I don’t really want to though, although I do have a long list of some very bad health problems, including a high probability that I have cancer and it’s spread. Am I suicidal? No. Will I be if my pain and seizure meds are taken away. Highly likely. I never ever saw this coming either. I don’t have a clue what to do and the clock is ticking, but I’m still fighting for an answer. So far, I can’t find not even one dr to help me though. Not one. I know my life depends on it, but at what point will these drs let my suffering become so inhumane that I just can’t take it anymore. I just don’t know right now. It’s a very scary place to be in for sure. That I do know.
The patient was being denied the medicine that had been alleviating his pain and committed suicide because, “he couldn’t live with the pain anymore. He could not see a future. He had no hope. He had no life.”
I am a chronic pain patient who has been on fairly high doses of opiates for about nine years now. My dose has been forcibly reduced since the cdc guidelines. I moved to Oregon from Alaska and can’t find a doctor to prescribe my medication. I pray I have the strength not to take my own life!
Zach Williams of Minnesota committed suicide at age 35. He was a veteran of Iraq and had experienced back pain and a brain injury from his time in service. He had treated his pain with narcotics until the VA began reducing prescriptions.
Ryan Trunzo committed suicide at the age of 26. He was an army veteran of Iraq. He had experienced fractures in his back for which he tried to get effective painkillers, but failed due to VA policy. His mother stated “I feel like the VA took my son’s life.”
Kevin Keller, a Navy veteran, committed suicide at age 52. He shot himself after breaking into the house of his friend, Marty Austin, to take his gun. Austin found a letter left by Keller saying “Marty sorry I broke into your house and took your gun to end the pain!” Keller had experienced a stroke 11 years earlier, and he had worsening pain in the last two years of his life because VA doctors would not give him pain medicine. On the subject of pain medication, Austin said that Keller “was not addicted. He needed it.”
Bob Mason, aged 67, of Montana committed suicide after not having access to drugs to treat his chronic pain for just one week. One doctor who had treated Mason was Mark Ibsen, who shut down his office after the Montana Board of Medical Examiners investigated him for excessive prescription of opioids. According to Mason’s daughter, Mason “didn’t like the drugs, but there were no other options.”
Donald Alan Beyer, living in Idaho, had experienced back pain for years. He suffered from degenerative disc disease, as well as a job-related injury resulting in a broken back. After his doctor retired, Beyer struggled without pain medicine for months. He shot himself on his 47th birthday. His son, Garrett, said “I guess he felt suicide was his only chance for relief.”
Denny Peck of Washington state was 58 when he ended his life. In 1990, he experienced a severe injury to his vertebrae during a fishing accident. His mother, Lorraine Peck, said “[h]e has been in severe pain ever since,” and his daughter, Amanda Peck, “said she didn’t remember a time when her dad didn’t hurt.” During the last few years of his life, Peck had received opiates for his pain from a Seattle Pain Center, until these clinics closed. After suffering and being unable to find doctors who would help with his pain, Peck called 911. Two days later, Peck was found dead in his home with bullet wounds in his head. A note found near Peck read: “Can’t sleep, can’t eat, can’t do anything. And all the whitecoats don’t care at all.”
Doug Hale of Vermont killed himself at the age of 53. He had experienced pain from interstitial cystitis, and decided to end his life six weeks after his doctor suddenly cut off his opiate painkillers. He left a note reading “Can’t take the chronic pain anymore” before he shot himself in the head. His doctor said he “was no longer willing to risk my license by writing you another script for opioids” (see attachment A for details of the problem as relyed by his wife Tammi who is now 10 months without a husband as a direct result of the CDC guidelines to prevent deaths)Bruce Graham committed suicide after living with severe pain for two years. At age 62, Graham fell from a ladder, suffering several severe injuries. He had surgery and fell into a coma. After surgery, he suffered from painful adhesions which could not be removed. He relied on opioid painkillers to tolerate his pain, but doctors eventually stopped prescribing the medicine he needed. Two years after his fall, Graham shot himself in the heart to end the pain.
Travis Patterson, a young combat veteran, died two days after a suicide attempt at the age of 26. After the attempt to take his own life, Patterson was brought to the VA emergency room. Doctors offered therapy as a solution, but did not offer any relief for his pain. Patterson died two days after his attempted suicide.
54-year-old Bryan Spece of Montana killed himself about two weeks after he experienced a major reduction in his pain medication. The CDC recommends a slow reduction in pain medicine, such as a 10% decrease per week. Based on information from Spece’s relative, Spece’s dose could have been reduced by around 70% in the weeks before he died.
In Oregon, Sonja Mae Jonsson ended her life when her doctor stopped giving her pain medicine as a result of the CDC guidelines.
United States veterans have been committing suicide after being unable to receive medicine for pain. These veterans include Peter Kaisen,Daniel Somers, Kevin Keller, Ryan Trunzo, Zach Williams, and Travis Patterson
A 40-year-old woman with fibromyalgia, lupus, and back issues appeared to have committed suicide after not being prescribed enough pain medicine. She had talked about her suicidal thoughts with her friends several times before, saying “there is no quality of life in pain.” She had no husband or children to care for, so she ended her life.
Sherri Little was 53 when she committed suicide. She suffered pain from occipital neuralgia, IBS, and fibromyalgia. A friend described Little as having a “shining soul of activism” as she spent time advocating for other chronic pain sufferers. However, Little had other struggles in her life, such as her feeling that her pain kept her from forming meaningful relationships. In her final days, Little was unable to keep down solid food, and she tried to get medical help from a hospital. When she was unable to receive relief, Little ended her life.
Former NASCAR driver Dick Trickle of North Carolina shot himself at age 71. He suffered from long-term pain under his left breast. Although he went through several medical tests to determine the cause of his pain, the results could not provide relief. After Trickle’s suicide, his brother stated that Dick “must have just decided the pain was too high, because he would have never done it for any other reason.”
39-year-old Julia Kelly committed suicide after suffering ongoing pain resulting from two car accidents. Kelly’s pain caused her to quit her job and move in with her parents, unable to start a family of her own. Her family is certain that the physical and emotional effects of her pain are what drove her to end her life. Kelly had founded a charity to help other chronic pain sufferers, an organization now run by her father in order to help others avoid Julia’s fate.
Sarah Kershaw ended her life at age 49. She was a New York Times Reporter who suffered from occipital neuralgia.
Lynn Gates Jackson, speaking for her friend E.C. who committed suicide after her long term opiates were suddenly reduced by 50% against her will, for no reason. Lynn reports she felt like the doctors were not treating her like a human being (Ed: a common complaint) and she made the conscious decision to end her life.
E.C. committed suicide quietly one day in Visalia California. She was 40. Her friend reported her death. “She did not leave a note but I know what she did”. The doctor would only write a prescription for 10 vicodin and she was in so much pain she could not get to the clinic every few days. We had talked many times about quitting life. Then she left. She just left.
Jessica, a patient with RSD/CRPS committed suicide when the pain from her disease became too much for her to bear. A friend asserted that Jessica’s death was not the result of an overdose, and that “living with RSD isn’t living.”
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/02/27/business/media/sarah-kershaw-former-times-reporter-dies-at-49.html?referer=https://t.co/qcSF8qOBp6?amp=1
http://www.news-press.com/story/news/crime/2014/09/08/death-investigation-at-groves-rv-park-in-fort-myers/15280035/
http://www.kpaddock.org/
https://m.facebook.com/FibroPrince/posts/948610075216801
https://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=14073
https://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=14574
https://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=15023
http://linkis.com/painnewsnetwork.org/7IoUl
http://linkis.com/whotv.com/2016/11/10/ibRof
https://articles.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/12/alabama_pain_centers_troubles.amp
https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2016/12/22/chronic-pain-patient-abandoned-by-doctor-dies#.WFwJ5-Lk6Xg.twitter
http://linkis.com/painnewsnetwork.org/oKRZ5
http://linkis.com/www.seattletimes.com/tgyL7
https://edsinfo.wordpress.com/2017/04/20/%ef%bb%bfpain-and-suicide-the-other-side-of-the-opioid-story/amp/
http://www.bendbulletin.com/topics/5342867-151/opioid-crisis-pain-patients-pushed-to-the-brink
https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2017/5/26/patient-suicide-blamed-on-montana-pain-clinic
https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2016/5/27/are-cdcs-opioid-guidelines-causing-more-suicides?rq=suicide
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/man-who-set-himself-on-fire-at-northfield-veterans-clinic/article_b7a4a712-f04e-11e5-a39b-3f42b9138511.amp.html
Aliff, Charles
Beyer, Donald Alan
Brunner, Robert “Bruin”
Graham, Bruce
Hale, Doug
Hartsgrove, Daniel P
Ingram III, Charles Richard
Kaisen, Peter
Keller, Kevin
Kershaw, Sarah
Kimberly, Allison
Little, Sherri
Mason, Bob
Miles, Richard
Murphy, Thomas
Paddock, Karon
Patterson, Travis “Patt”
Peck, Denny
Peterson, Michael Jay
Reid, Marsha
Somers, Daniel
Son, Randall Lee
Spece, Brian
Tombs, John
Trickle, Richard “Dick”
Trunzo, Ryan
Williams, Zack
Karon Shettler Paddock committed suicide on August 7, 2013 http://www.kpaddock.org/
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1616190951785852&set=a.395920107146282.94047.100001848876646&type=3&theater
Jessica Simpson took her life July 2017
Mercedes McGuire took her life on Friday, August 4th. She leaves behind her 4 yr old son. She could no longer endure the physical & emotional pain from Trigeminal Neuralgia.
www.disabledveterans.org/2017/08/16/veteran-commits-suicide-front-amarillo-va-emergency-department/
Another Veteran Suicide In Front Of VA Emergency Department
Depression and Pain makes me want to kill self. Too much physical and emotional pain to continue on. I seek the bliss fullness of Death. Peace. Live together die alone.
Dr. Mansureh Irvani suspected overdose victim http://www.foxnews.com/health/2017/08/18/suspended-oral-surgeon-dies-suspected-overdose.html
Katherine Goddard’s Suicide note: Due to the pain we are both in and can’t get help, this is the only way we can see getting out of it. Goodbye to everybody,” https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-man-arrested-after-girlfriend-dies-during-alleged-suicide-pact/
Steven Lichtenberg: the 32-year-old Dublin man shot himself http://www.dispatch.com/news/20160904/chronic-pains-emotional-toll-can-lead-to-suicide
Fred Sinclair he was hurting very much and was, in effect, saying goodbye to the family. https://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=21743
Robert Markel, 56 – June 2016 – Denied Pain Meds/Heroin OD http://www.pennlive.com/opioid-crisis/2017/08/heroin_overdose_deaths.html
