Pain Medicine: Pain Relief Network Sues State of Washington Over Narcotic Prescribing Guidelines
The Pain Relief Network (PRN), a nonprofit organization waging a lonely battle to protect the rights of doctors who prescribe opioid pain relievers and patients who receive them, has filed a lawsuit against the state of Washington over prescribing guidelines promulgated in March 2007 by the state Department of Health.
The guidelines are designed to guide physicians through the minefields of narcotic prescribing in a time where they face a rising clamor for the relief of pain at the same time they face the threat of arrest and prosecution by federal or state agents intent on stopping narcotic drug abuse. But PRN alleges that Washington's guidelines deter doctors from prescribing opiates and have had an undue negative influence on prescribing practices across the country.
The guidelines, which only apply to the treatment of chronic pain -- not cancer pain, acute pain or hospice care -- recommend that daily opioid doses not exceed 120 milligrams of morphine or the equivalent if both pain and physical function are not improving. PRN argues that the guidelines are inflexible and fail to account for the needs of real patients.
According to the complaint filed late last month on behalf of a Washington state doctor and a group of Washington state pain patients, plaintiffs seek an injunction blocking the guidelines from being used. The complaint argues that the Washington guidelines violate both state laws and federal civil rights laws.
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Comment posted by Anonymous on Fri, 07/11/2008 - 1:22pmAnonymous
Shame on you for comparing patients with legal perscriptions of opiates to street junkies.
Methadone is a wonderful medication for chronic pain. It has many advantages for long term chronic pain patients.
As far as addiction managment is concerned, methadone is highly regulated and considered the gold standard treatment for opiate addiction managment.
It is no party beinging a patient at a methadone clinic since most of the anonymous joes out there like you don't know anything about the treatment so they just keep up the same stigma you exhibit.
Shame on you.
KK
Prescribing Opiate Pain Relievers
Comment posted by Anonymous on Fri, 07/11/2008 - 2:56pmIt is not the DEA that has to go to school to learn how people tolerate a drug. A peak and trough test is usually the correct way of knowing what a persons body needs to fight off pain. I do not feel it is the DEA's job to do what a trained doctor is taught to do.
Granted there are probably a few crooked doctors just in it for the MONEY but most actually care about a persons pain and try their best to help the person in need. Each persons body has different tollerances and the DEA needs to learn this. Again I dont feel the DEA has the right to make the decision on how much of a drug a person needs. Let the test show the truth.
I have seen some people that do quite well on a low dose and some that do require alot more because each persons body absorbs differently. In my feelings I say the peak and trough test should be done because it shows the actual tollerances that ones body needs to combat the pain. It is not a guessing game as the DEA is doing it now. I say leave prescribing to trained proffesionals that have the means to actually know what a body needs to ward off pain.
Also it has been proven that IF medical cannabis was legal a person can cut their dose by quite a bit. Cannabis has not once killed ANYONE, unlike the narcotics have and do.
So I would have to go with a trained doctor and NOT a DEA person that is guessing. maybe one day that DEA person may need an opiate drug to fight off pain, would their feeling still be the same if it was their child or a loved one, would they choos to let them suffer when ther is a way to relieve the pain? I say they would not and would want proper treatment just as I do.
I can understand both sides to this story but I still feel its a doctors choice on what to give a person and not the DEA.
It was fine to medicate John Kennedy when he was our president with opiates, most people did not even know the man was that bad and took tons of medication just to function daily. Our government hides what it wants hid but sooner or later the truth will prevail.
Do old people in nursing homes know they are given Marinol to make them hungry? My guess is most dont even know what the pill is or what it is. If you asked them if they ever did cannabis they would most lkely say, "no, I never have when all along they are getting it daily, but yet the government claims there is NO medical use. That myth is being disproven each day with research. So I say if medical cannabis was made legal a doctor would not have to prescribe as much of a narcotic for their pain, I know this from first had experience.
Our laws need a drastic change,
Thank you for your time ,,,,,,Dave
your alll rude
Comment posted by Anonymous on Fri, 02/13/2009 - 9:50pmTo automatically assume opiates is something demonizing is GOD awful dark ages....so i'll repeat!!!!! We that suffer from injuries that are not cancer like mine broken ankle dead Talus excrutiating pain and you want to say go to a drug treatnment center you frickkein idiot..... please let me break everyone of your ankles with a metal bat and you tell me if you believe you need a drug prevention center.....Stupid FFFFFF idioiots yea you spell it.........
bkat2d11@yahoo.com
Richard Shane
helping doctors
Comment posted by Anonymous on Sun, 07/13/2008 - 10:20amcan,t we all sign our names to show we support the doctors people who need it are suffering because drs are afraid to give it because thr dea go to the drs offices and threaten the that if they prescribe it the they will go after the dr and my dr is a surgon and told me him self that he can give a little but i would have to suffer after so many pain meds are given or the dea will come and shut him down and he is a surgon that did a operation and feels bad because he know that the pain meds are needed hes the one who went to school for 7 yrs and done over 6000 surgurys we need to help doctors to protect our rights and his no person should be treat with creul and unusual punish ment lad
6 years of chronic pain and now, no doctor
Comment posted by Anonymous on Thu, 01/29/2009 - 1:25pmI had a horrble car accident in 2003 and it left me immobile due to extreme pain. I refused any narcotics in the begining, because I didn't want to be imapired. A week later, I had reached a point with the pain that I really didn't want to live anymore. I went from being "super-mom" to not being able to get to the bathroom on time. I began on a low dose and tried everything from massage thereapy to physical therapy and nerve blocks. Until a week ago, I was finally at a point where I could do some normal daily things and had received my degree in Criminal Justice on my medications. Because of the Washington State Laws on Opiates, my doctor of 8 years, was raided and is being accused of being "Dr. Feel-Good". I had to do blood work and UA's to get non-refillable medications and see my doctor monthly. I didn't start out on the levels I am now, it has been a slow up-hill climb. I know people were trying to use my doctor for meds and he was figuring out those people and refusing to help them unless they went into a treatment program. The problem is, until further notice, my doctor is closed and NO_ONE will take his patients where I live. We are being forced out of our own community and most of us, have true non-stop chronic pain that cannot be treated by surgery. I have been stuck in my bed for days due to the pain of not being able to even go to the ER. It has cripled me and my family is suffering from my pain too. I have perminent straightening of my cervical spine and two herniated discs, with two more that have spurs and I've lost mobility in my arms and legs. I have nerve root exposure and chronic migraines and I have never felt more alone or discriminated against in my life. While I am stuck waiting to find out whats going to happen to my doctor, whats going to happen to me? I feel like I'm going to have a heart attack from the pain and I don't want to wake up sometimes. My doctor is a good man and I believe in him, he saved my life, gave me some quality of life and now?
Feel For You
Comment posted by Anonymous on Fri, 07/31/2009 - 4:06pmHi,
I just came across your article and I know what you're going through. I just recently moved here from Hawaii and am about to run out of my meds which I have been on for 4 yrs. I have 2 herniated disks which doing the operation did nothing to alleviate the pain. Before the operation the pain was on a scale from 1-10; 9-10. After the operation; 8-9. I was told by my doctor in Hawaii that I would be in this condition until I die and that my cane will be my constant companion. From the looks of things,without my meds, I will soon die. I cannot imagine a day without my meds. Just because I am on meds does not mean that the pain is completely gone. I take my meds as perscribed and the pain is still there. Without it, I don't think I could walk 10 steps.
Mahalo
DEA cowards
Comment posted by Anonymous on Sun, 05/17/2009 - 4:40pmIt is my fondest wish that each and every DEA agent suffers intractable pain and cannot find a doctor who will treat their pain thanks to their sadistic policies. The DEA would rather thousands suffer than one addict deceive a doctor. The DEA is a great example of a rogue government agency that needs to be shut down. The DEA seems to have become a repository for cowards, sadists, and right wing sociopaths!
i need a n west docter whos not afraid to help someone
Comment posted by Anonymous on Wed, 05/20/2009 - 12:03amin 1989 i fell on a glass coke bottle that some idiot left on a side walk in the winter ice and as i put my hand down it ran right smack up into my hand cutting my 3 tendons and i had to have surgery and in 2001 some idiot back stabber who demanded 25 cents stuck me in the back with a sharp object and took off running when i told him i didnt have money only credit cards on me, now as i get older and yearsof being a ironcraftsmen im in chronic pain in and near i was stabbed by my spine and upper lower neck area and my hand I was for 3 years getting ms contin for my pain at 3 a day never evr increasing the dose as at 3 a day i could function pain free and if i increased the dose id be too tired and couldnt function . now thanks to Mr Right wing Bush man new law id have to go al the way to florida to get what works so well for me and my pain I cant afford to got there and in search for a pain clinic in the n west states area of wash state, orgegon or Idaho or Montana. I havent found a dr here yet whos not a paranoid schztzo to prescribe whats legal to be prescribed in the 1st place talk about selfish people and cowards. If anyone knows of a open minded docter whos not afriad to prescribe meds to people with legit reasons for taking em please email me at zr1zora2008@aol.com i and please dont think im some kid looking for ahigh im a 47 yr old man whos very sucessfull and has worked hard his whole life whos raising afamily and has legitimate reasons for taking opiates Sure im tolerant i dont deny it but im not a addict and i know im not as i would never increase the dose to get thartwhat evr feeling people look for for me it kills the pain and i live abetter life and can function with out being irratbale and uncomfortable from the pain If you know somweone let me know it would defenilty be along term relation ship not a one night stand hahahahalol
Chronic Pain/Physicians who refuse to treat patients properly
Comment posted by C. Beckley on Tue, 07/14/2009 - 6:16pmI am 49 years old, live in southeastern Kansas and have a Primary Care Physician (Kimberly Wood, MD.) Since 2004 I have had 4 back surgeries, I suffer from advanced arthritis, have scoliosis - needless to say I live with daily chronic pain.
Will someone please tell me why this physician and many more for that fact, hesitate or even refuse to treat a patient with a narcotic analgesic, when the use of these medications have been proven to provide relief? I no longer work outside the home. Performing even the simplist of tasks around my home has become almost unbearable. I do not use mediications recreationally, however that is the impression she seems to have and has therefore stopped all medications containing a narcotic. Also, I was cut off "cold turkey" and spent 5 days of hell in withdrawal.
I know there are many people like me, who suffer on a daily basis. Does anyone have information on pain relief methods, other than the one method that did work?
Gratefully,
C. Beckley
please help
Comment posted by karl on Fri, 08/07/2009 - 5:16ami have been in pain for 3 years now, because its a stomach pain that has to do with the nerves there is no test that shows what i'm suffering so doctors wont perscribe me pain meds.. i have been so close to suicide almost every month for the past 3 years i cry at night and during the day my pain is so bad it makes me vomit and not be able to eat.. i have been hospitalized for 2 weeks in Sacramento and 3 days in Washington and another 3 days and then another 3 days then i was turned away .. when i cried in the emergency room that my pain was so bad and they wouldn't give me anything for it so i started to freek out .. so they put me in a phyc room without my current meds and no extra meds for over 10 hours.. so i had bruises all up and down my legs from kicking the sides of the bed i was in horrendous pain i was just hurting so bad and screaming help me , help me, no one cared finally a psychiatrists came at his leazure and said why are you like this i explained my situation and he apologized to me and had me immediately released.. i luckily found a doc that would prescribe me 16 oxycodones a day and some methadone about 20 methadone which is very low when others are talking 120 methadone.. form the beginning this did not stop the pain and for 2 years i always ended up short with the drugs and spent weeks without any meds cus i finished them early because the pain was so bad.. the doctor will not prescribe me anymore in fear the DEA with arrest him.. please god help me i will be dead from suicide sometime in the next year if things dont change .. please i'm not crazy before this pain came on i was a pilot and in college and doing very well .. i want my life back but i need more pain meds to get ontop of the pain to finally be at peace then i can come off of them slowly.. please god help .. please someone read this and tell a doctor who is willing to help i have documentation i have been in pain for 3 years i have tryed acupuncture pain program retreats everything.. i'm crying as i type this because i have lost faith my country calls me a drug addict and wont help me .. i'm in pain lord help me survive i dont want to die but i dont see any other way out but suicide if i dont get some help soon.. please god help me anyone help me please .....please my soul is dead my pain is so bad i go delirious sometimes .. i don't have enough meds ... i will be dead soon.. i havent found the courage to cut my wrists yet but every time i try i get closer and closer .... please i pray and i'm not even religious i'm just on my last leg of hope here that maybe someone will here me and save me .. please please, pleas, pleas, save me all i need is 30 oxycodone 5's a day and then i can detox off the methadone and then come down slowly off the codone and see if i can make it without drugs.. but right now nothing is happening the right way .. its been 3 years and almost 30 doctors, who have accused my parents of rapeing me and also telling me i need antidepressants that they prescribe like candy .. but when it comes to pain they do nothing..please some one help me please. i will move anywre canada, or any state, anywere.. just help me .. help save my life .. i'm in so much pain i need help .. please please help me!
Pain pain pain : Erg!
Comment posted by Kara A. Rowe on Wed, 08/19/2009 - 12:20amDearest Karl : i hope you see this post!! I'm so tired & in a lot of pain so I can't begin to tell about my 28 year plight with pain, dumba** Dr's & the ruthless dea stick'n their nose into my very salvation.
However, you make my soul cry out for you!!! I oh so know exactly where you are and what it is like to be there! But what makes me even more sad is that you're suffering so much you're feeling as if someone would be kind enough to allow you a respite that you would be willing to give up the meds forever at some point!! You should be able to be on the meds you need for the rest of your life if need be w/out feeling like your do'n something wrong!!
I so wish i had the power to help you!!! If you were back east here in Maine or NH i could help you!! My clinic does help some better than nothing.
Actually i feel like crap now cuz i just got into a fight w/my dr cuz he won't give me a pain pill for night time so i can sleep more than 1/2 hrs at a time.
I hate how i have to be thankful for what i do have. No one should have to feel like that - but worse than that no one should ever have to feel like you feel!!!!!!! My heart goes out to you!!
I dunno where you live but try a University Dr! Or if you can come to Maine - i'll let you use my physical address as a residence. Then get you to my doc ASAP - sorry that's the best i can do. A flight on Expedia.com should be cheap. PLEASE email me!!! kararowe@yahoo.com maybe i can find a way to help you where you are!! I dunno. Please go get some pot or some'n till you can get a dr!!
We pain patients are what they call "Calateral damage" of the tons of $$ our "War on Drugs" !!!! And like any victims we will go unnoticed till we are medicated enough to stand up for ourselves. See the irony?? Bites big time huh?? Dude i gotta get to sleep - ya "sleep" please email me soon as you see this ..... I'll be looking for ya!! I will pray for you too! Ur new friend Kara
Karl
Comment posted by Kara on Wed, 08/19/2009 - 12:57amKarl - i cannot urge you enough to email me!! I don't care who sees my address if it means you will contact me! I am so very very worried and concerned for you!!!!! Please don't give up!! Have faith!! I know it's hard but please keep trying to find help!! My friends husband has stomach pain and he gets oxycodone from his dr! Soooo you Can & Will find help. I dunno how i got to this web site - by accident - maybe to find you!!! Please write ASAP!!! Kara
help
Comment posted by Anonymous on Thu, 08/20/2009 - 10:14pmi'm crying so much i didn't think anyone would understand.. the pain is so bad i need to talk to you i need help.. if you couldn't believe it, someone calling me a junkie on this post and it emtyed my heart i couldn't believe the hate i encountered.. please i will contact you i dont know if it will do any good but my pain is ruining my life.. im only 24 and my last 3 years have ruined my career.. i pray everyday for help i hope i have found someone now .. the idea i has caused me to cry.. excuse me for a min while i cry i can't even type at the moment ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, they call call me a junkie i feel so hopeless .. please god help me
i dont see your email .. please respond soon.. i dont mean to threaten my live i'm just be honest about the terrible thought that go through my head.. please . please help me..
thankyou for even tryiong to help it makes me cry so much .. i cant type anymore im just a mess ... please my email is zedy8k@gmail.com please send me a message please help me
thankyou
Comment posted by zedy on Thu, 08/20/2009 - 10:57pmthank you so much for understanding... i didn't think anyone would .. i'm crying so heavy ... i didn't know there were people out there still willing ti help.. bless you .. bless you so much.. contact me if i have not already contacted you zedy8k@gmail.com..
bless you so much!!!!
thankyou
Comment posted by Anonymous on Thu, 08/20/2009 - 11:55pmseveral people called me a junkie.. but i'd like to make sure that they know wat a junkie is.. its a person who goes onto the illegal market and buys drugs to get high! i find people who will give me pain medication so i can live my life normally.. you dont get hi when you have heavy pain .. its just takes away the pain.. i have never gotten high once and on top of that a junkie wants to stay high for the rest of his life.. i need meds to build on so i can get rid of the low does of methadone im on and then if i can get rid of the does of oxycodone i'm on (itis not oxycotin at all) my goal is to be drug free to see how the pain reacts to herbal medicines not prescriptions meds.. but until then i need the medications to be able to eat dinner with my family go out and enjoy the life.. i cant even drive a car right now.. its a bad life but the pain holds me back from doin anything... so for those who call me a drug addict or junkie.. you are sadly mistaken and do not understand .. your hate is whats causing the dEA to be able to not serve people who are really suffering and its sad.. just wait until you are in my position .. you deserve it to be in my position
Pain/addiction
Comment posted by Kara Rowe on Mon, 08/24/2009 - 3:19pmHello : just a brief message as i am too uncomfortale to go into everything. For those who do not know or understand : Chronic pain, Addiction & depression All run on the Exact Same Neuropathways!! Therefore, it is very unlikely that a person who is in pain will become an "addict" and people in pain do not get or feel "High" when taking narcotics! Because each neuropathway can do only one job at a time! When there is a constant signal of pain - the brain becomes unable to shut that signal down on its own. Our bodies under normal circumstances - such as a broken leg - send neurochemicals related to the same chemical found in the Poppy plant - to help us fight the pain of the broken leg and to tell us to get help!! When pain continues due to disease which does not heal within the time limit set by our primative (sp?) brains then pain becomes Chronic and our supply of Natural pain relief runs out!! So, a suppliment is needed! Such as a prescribed medication from a doctor. Drugs such as oxycodone are needed because they replace the Missing neurotransmitter the body uses naturally to stop pain. The pill is digested, absorbed by the bloodstream and sent to the brain - saying : hey, i'm here!! You can stop now! It is just like diabeties! People whose bodies do not make or process insulin at all or correctly must take insulin in order to function - in order to live. Yes. Pain can kill! When not treated - pain causes depression which can cause death. In fact suicide has risen by 16% amoung chronic pain people since the National Drug War began - then failed and then went aftet easy targets such as dr's and people with legit needs. It is not a good or easy life! I know no one who would choose a life of pain and pain meds!! I would give up every pill to have my construction business back, to be working on my Masters degree, to help my mother who has early onset dementia better and to just be able to persue happiness on my terms not the terms of my dr or his fears! Try some compassion you nay sayers! You could end up in a car accident, develope a painful disease yourselves or worse a loved one may someday need pain medication! There are millions of people in pain. Do you believe we all could be junkies? In fact my dr. was in pain for 11 yrs! If he was a junkie - do you think he would be a dr? Ok, l went on a bit more than i expected. Though, when i read that someone called an other person a junkie - it bothered me. Try educateing yourself before making comments that are hurtful and ignorant! It could be you someday! : )
Ps
Comment posted by Kara Rowe on Sat, 08/29/2009 - 9:44amI just wanted to add something : when i mentioned a broken leg as an example of pain which is not chronic .... I meant as it happens ... Not while it's healing or the aftermath of pain which can occur when the leg is healed ... Our bodies are still such a huge mystery ... That is our brains - because our brains control every aspect of our bodies ... And some people after an injury can develop certain medical conditions which continue to cause pain. The central nervous system can malfunction and cause the other nervous systems to break down as well - then people develop pain which is chronic and very much as real as any other cause of pain. So, i'm sorry - i did not intend to say that someone who broke their leg shouldn't or couldn't possibly be in pain long after the injury heals because it happens every single day. Thank you : ) - Kara
Prescribing Opiate Pain Relievers
Comment posted by Anonymous on Fri, 07/11/2008 - 10:44amWe don't have that problem in Iowa. With 2 methadone programs in Des Moines, a town of only 225,000 people, anyone who has even a mild addiction to pain pills can get on Methadone a much more addictive narcotic. I also know of to opiate addicts who take 110mgs of Methadone every day plus they get 225 Dilaudid a month, legally! While, in Iowa, Marijuana/ Medical Marijuana is considered as addictive as heroin yet it is outlawed, but you can become a legal opiate junkie. Where is the sense in this?!?! This is just another example of the "War On Drugs" working in reverse.