This is a 30 minute video.. from a husband of a person with chronic pain wife from Crohn’s disease.. Seems to pretty well drive home the point how adversely Pharmacist’s exercising their “professional discretion “… that is overly influenced by their own personal biases or phobia’s can adversely affect a person’s quality of life… but then.. we are there to take care of the DEA’s and media’s agenda … RIGHT ?
Filed under: General Problems
I have Crohn’s. Thank you for sharing this.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is not trying to limit or ration access to opioid painkillers, according to a DEA spokesman who says “nothing should stand in the way” of a patient getting a legitimate prescription for pain medication filled. “We’re not doctors. We’re regulators and enforcers of the law. If something is prescribed for a legitimate medical purpose, we’re certainly not going to get in the way,” said DEA spokesman Rusty Payne.
Its hard to believe what’s happening to the core of Pain Management here in the United States. Doctors that are compassionate enough to treat people with chronic pain conditions are being forced to change their style of practicing by certain entities like (regulatory, legal, insurance, DEA, and Medical Board)
Chronic pain sufferers are going to find themselves in trouble soon. On the other hand Cancer sufferers seem more likely to not get harassed because their days could be numbered and its sad , I’ve lost 3 good friends to cancer just in the past 2 years. I miss them dearly and wish they where back here on earth. Seems all my friends are gone due to illnesses of some kind.
You may wonder why cancer sufferers are better qualified to receive pain medications than chronic pain sufferers but isn’t ongoing pain also suffering day in and day out.
It is the FDA’s view that a patient without cancer ,like a patient with cancer, may suffer from chronic pain. The FDA knows of no physiological or pharmacological basis upon which to differentiate the treatment of chronic pain in a cancer setting or a patient from which the treatment of chronic pain in the absence of cancer.
The under-treatment of pain is due in part to a kind of undesirable chilling effect. The concept of a chilling effect is a useful law enforcement tool. When publicity surrounding a righteous prosecution ‘chills’ related criminal conduct, that chilling effect is intended, appropriate, and a public good. A chilling effect on the appropriate use of pain medicine, however, is not a public good. Recent research by members of the Law Enforcement Roundtable confirms that prosecutions of doctors for diversion of prescription medications are rare. But on occasion overly-sensationalized stories of investigation of doctors have hit the nightly news. When that happens, the resulting chilling effect reaches far beyond a good chilling effect on bad actors, and directly affects appropriate medical practice. The consequence is extreme, and not what law enforcement would ever seek our parents and other loved ones who are in pain simply cannot get the medicines they need. This is sad and I feel bad for all that suffer from chronic pain ,if it comes from cancer or not.
Some Dx’s are difficult to really ascertain pain and suffering. I had a good friend with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis. often, on some days he did ok. Othertimes, he was a seriously disturbed individual with many severe symptoms. He’s most likely diseased.The times he is well enough to go for his meds, he does alright. He would come up short often. In the days of legal internet Rx’s I showed him how to order as his Dr had little pity as he was black. He did ok..
If the meds are doing their job.. the pt may not look like they really “need” the medication… but.. if they are having a “bad day” , flare or meds not working.. then they probably look like someone that is abusing some substance.. A healthcare professional looking/dealing with them.. that doesn’t understand their particular disease and/or their situation.. may make a “bad call” about if they have a legit need for the medication or they are just another abuser