It seems like every entity that believes that they have some authority to interfere with the practice of medicine and opiate dosing… are attempting to put in their two cents and enacting some guidelines, laws and/or threatening some healthcare providers with having their accreditation withdrawn if they exceed a certain amount of MME/day on pts.
One group National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), which is a agency that accredits different healthcare providers is putting forward daily MME and if prescribers exceed this arbitrary limit… the provider will have their accreditation revoked.
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services is coming forward with daily MME limits and is shifting some of the responsibility to enforce those limits to community pharmacists. Perhaps they approached this in this manner… so that they could wash their hands of any consequences caused by decisions of Pharmacists not to fill and deny care and override the prescriber’s wishes.
The CDC only put forth GUIDELINES… which did not bear the weight of law, but in fact has become de-facto standard of care and best practices for untold number of healthcare entities and providers.
Many states have passed laws that has MME/day limits and most are focused on those pts being treated with ACUTE PAIN…NOT CHRONIC PAIN.
This is a similar tactic that various state’s AG’s used against the company that brought a Hydrocodone ER (Zohydro) to the market. Because the company had to go to court in each state they were sued by the AG… and the company ended up in bankruptcy because of all of this nonsensical legal actions.
Those in the chronic pain community needs to make themselves of the various laws and guidelines… many of which can be in conflict or contradicting each other.
I am sure that a number of prescribers will tell pts that he/she is “forced” to comply with this-that law or guidelines. Many times these “limits” will be STATE LAW and I suspect that the prescriber will be misrepresenting what the context of the law really is. They may be observing their interpretation of the law and not the letter nor intent of the law.
I spoke with a chronic pain pt recently from Colorado. This pt’s prescriber was an employee of some corporation and that corporation was sold or merged with another corporation in FLORIDA… the FL corporation came down with a edit that NO OPIATES were to be prescribed. The prescriber started to wean down his pts… there was a edit from the FL corporation that all opiate pts were to be DISCHARGED IMMEDIATELY… cut off COLD TURKEY… I am not sure if the prescriber was fired and/or he quit… but.. he is no longer working for this corporation.
IMO, this is just the first of many such corporate decisions/mandates in how pts are provided care. This is where a class action law firm could be interested in pursuing… since a single corporate entity with “deep pockets” that he causing harm to hundreds or thousands of pts.
Unless chronic pain pts are aware of the rules/laws/guidelines that is being used to dictate their care… they will not be able to take legal action against the entity that is doing harm to them.
Remember, anytime that someone tell you that they are following some law/rule/regulation… simply ask them to furnish you with a copy of what they are following or the state statue number – so that you can look it up on the web… if they are unwilling/unable to provide you that information… It probably DOESN’T EXIST.
There should be consequences to those who violate our laws.
Filed under: General Problems
To Mary. I know it is a less than great state for medical care of pain patients but then I don’t know any place that is good these days. At least marijuana is legal there and hubby can grow anything but a money tree! We have plans but will take time to implement so I just need to find some way to survive for awhile. Alaska recently decided to take away cbd oil so I have to get it mail order, just hope it doesn’t freeze in the mail! I find that cbd with L tryptophan helps with my leg pain and emotions. I do use considerably more than the suggested starting dose. I may not be able to afford as much as I need at $39 a bottle which lasts about a week. It doesn’t seem to matter what we find to help us live with our painful conditions somebody has to decide we can’t use it. The government makes more money on fines than taxes and keeps control of us that way. Money and control are the names of the game!
sadly,,,u r dead on,,,,good luck,,,you’ll make it work some how,,,,,,mary
Good luck to you Mary as well as to any of us who are attempting to get those responsible for this travesty held accountable. Hell at this point I wouldn’t care if no one is held responsible if we could just get our medication back! After all the crap we have been put through for years just to get some relief it’s unbelievable that this could be happening! I was just reduced again and while trying to cope with the extra pain I have to pack up my life to move to a climate that is less severe where hopefully I won’t hurt as bad!
To Connie,,,,,,, U ARE NOT MOVING TO A FRIENDLY STATE AT ALLLL ABOUT OUR MEDICINE,,,,,but,,I have order a lot of natural medicine from that state soooo???maybe find a good gardener,,,,???,,,,,,good luck to u,,as I am sure u will shutting down your computer in the move,,,,,,maryw
Here is where the problem lies,,,I have contacted over 25 ,”class action,” lawyer,,the problem lies in ,”it” not being a corporation,,,,but the federal government,,,unless I am misunderstanding thee ,”imo”..however,,,that does not mean we don’t keep tryen,,,,,this appeal,,,Im doing,,,w/the aclu,,,,,im literately prayen it works,,,,,enough already,,the line was crossed when they went up w/the weakest medicine to schedule 2,,,for prosecution reason against our doctors,,NOT for our safety,,,,jmo,,mary
…as well as the consequences for the politicians, and representatives, in whose trust we voted.
Since I reside in Florida, I would love to know which corporation did that to the poor chronic pain patients in Colorado.
Isn’t what the NCQA doing us more of a threatening/bullying tactic? I feel awful for all the doctors who are being strong armed by guidelines that aren’t law and over stepping legal boundaries.
I guess I need to get my law degree so I can do the class action suit to save us all ✨