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How many more?

Submitted by David Borden on
Since my experience with the so called super virus and my following medical problems, I have received a number of e mails from people who find themselves in similar circumstances.I refer to the trouble people find themselves in when they attempt to find a physician in B.C. that will prescribe pain medication,often for problems they found themselves in in other provinces or states.It seems that the purge we had in the early 80's not only removed every doctor with any empathy for such patients but introduced some kind of regimen that has doctors terrified to even broach the subject of pain management.Most of these people are not former addicts,like myself,but are straight people that have no experience with being labeled, rejected,accused and ignored before being tossed from the office.The common thread in their complaints is that they are being treated like drug addicts and criminals which,of course,they're not.Funny how circumstances can put people in the same boat and yet they still don't feel any connection with the others around them.People use hard drugs for a very simple reason.They are in pain.It's not always the kind that shows to the eye but it's pain none the less.When I hear from these people they often were receiving pain medication at doses that doctors in this province consider drug abuse.Never mind it's often barely working as it is.The B.C. medical system has one answer for these people.They send them to a methadone clinic for treatment.Never mind that methadone sucks as a painkiller.It's "legal".I won't go into the whole rant again,I was interested in finding out how many people have found themselves in similar circumstances?I have no idea what to do with the information.That will depend on how many people are involved.There are so few doctors that will prescribe pain killers at a level that actually manages the pain that I cannot recommend a doctor to anyone else.I will,however,try to put something together if there are enough people in similar circumstances.People put on methadone will have one hell of a time getting off and for opiate drugs to work it's essential to get off of the methadone.I know pain is often too much to manage for the lengths of time required to work your way onto a pain doctors list.Remember, if you feel you must go on methadone that it will be a long road coming off.That this is even happening is disgusting and wrong.It's what happens when a drug war mentality is behind the body responsible for the treatment of pain in a province.What these people do and say is not just misguided,it's bold faced lies.That they have resorted to using methadone as a painkiller is malpractice.My information is in my profile.If anyone knows if methadone is being used as a painkiller anywhere but B.C.,I would be interested in hearing the details.If you have experienced similar treatment from doctors in the province of British Columbia I would like to hear from as many of you as possible.

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