I’m new here, I was a speaker for LEAP for several years, and then took a break for personal reasons. I’m back now because I feel speaking out against the drug war will makeup for some of the damage I did as a narcotics investigator.
I had back surgery in the late 80’s, and now suffer chronic pain. I’ve been a patient advocate since my original pain doctor was arrested by DEA in 1996. I had to travel to
There are a lot of good pain doctors, but there are a few bad ones who knowingly continue to violate the law. If a doctor treating pain makes some paper work mistakes, send them to some training on pain treatment, and get them back to work. There are just too few doctors willing to treat pain.
I’m going to be talking about pain doctors, DEA’s war on doctors, pain treatment, and pain medicine, including medical marijuana.
Jay Fleming
Hi Jay, I'm sure I speak for others when I say we're looking forward to reading more of your posts.
ReplyDeleteI've heard the story of Dr. Hurwitz before, and it is truly a tragedy. We should not be allowing the DEA and other law enforcement bureaucrats to be determining what constitutes proper medicine. That is a task for doctors, not police.
Would the police tolerate, even for a second, a medical doctor lecturing them on proper arrest procedure, or crowd control, or another police matter? No -- because it's not the doctor's job. I wish the same deference existed in the opposite direction.
I hope I am not one of the "bad" docs you were talking about! I tried to dot my I's and cross all of my T's when I practiced pain management. Yet, I still was driven from practice. At least, I never had any criminal charges. But, being without any job, for over three years, can feel like prison! My life is in shambles and all I wanted to do was relieve suffering and pain. Thanks for speaking up for us!
ReplyDeleteJay - welcome back! I am so glad you are going to be writing for the blog. And I am looking forward to reading about pain management & the role of medical doctors. It is an area that I don't know much about, frankly, and I would like to learn more.
ReplyDeleteJay: Dear heart, please allow me to be frank and forward without you thinking for even one moment that it's a personal attack. Simply stated, my comments are not a personal attack, and from that point on please hear me, when you are able to hear me.
ReplyDeleteYou said, "I’m back now because I feel speaking out against the drug war will makeup for some of the damage I did as a narcotics investigator".
You're darn right bubba. My life was ruined over 41 stinking years ago because of the ridiculous 'war on drugs'. Forty one years ago man, and the stigma still hangs over my head.
Well after the "bust" mentioned below we lived in a mid western town, far from Southern California.
I was an ace, no, I was beyond an ace police dispatcher in a mid western town, until they found out that I was busted for selling marijuana and two hits of LSD to a narc.
The only reason I sold, as I had NEVER sold any "narcotic" before was because my neighbor across the street got busted and knew that I smoked marijuana.
Well, lo and behold, the neighbor was told by the narcs that if she supplied them with names that her sentence would be reduced. Wa la, I got busted!!!!! 90 plus people in a bogus "sting" in San Diego. Made the headlines of the newspapers and the was top billed on the evening news complete with pictures of the "90" splashed all over the air waves.
So yes dear heart, you have some lost ground to correct and make right. And I'm here with you all the way, that is, as long as you strive to kick butt and set the record straight.
-------Lea
This all happened in 1969 by the way. I sold the "narcotics" at the age of 17 and they waited until I, and many others turned 18 to bust us. How frakking convenient.
ReplyDeleteWhen we were taken one-by-one into the interrogation room, the first thing, the VERY first thing the narc said to me, who by the way was in a suit and tie now and neatly shaved said, "Hi Lea, do you remember me"?
Michael: Are you the same one that supported my comments on the bogus "memo" by Obummer?
-------Lea
I think I am one and the same cynical person!, Lea! I don't trust any of the lawyers that are have become our politicians. That includes 98% of them, at least. How do you tell if a politicina is lying? Their lips move!
ReplyDeleteMichael- I'm sure you're not one of the bad doc's I was talking about. The one I was talking about is a local doctor who says he's a pain doc, but has no training. He was committing Medicare fraud, hiding the number of Schedule II drugs he wrote by not using the tamper proof prescriptions required by California, he wasn't doing proper exams on pain patients, because he didn't have one exam table in his whole office, and he was even too cheap to have the hot water on in his office. That's a bad doc to me.
ReplyDeleteI think doctors who practice in good faith, should be protected by law. Here in Arizona we have pain guidelines, not a pain treatment law.
The guidelines do give some guidance, but need to be more specific on what is required for record keeping.
If a doctor treating a long time pain patient simply asks if a medication is working, and if there are any side effects when giving refills, the doctor risks enforcement from the medical board for using " caned answers".
I seems like it would be so simple to have standardized pain forms like a new patient form, a pain agreement, and a update form patients could bring in each visit.
Then we are friends Michael.
ReplyDelete---Lea
posible adicction for pain chronic is vicodin, Lortab, hydrocodone this prescribed for doctor.
ReplyDeleteThe doctor gave me lortab long time after suffering from back pain, I did not take importance to this icon in order to feel pain, until no stamina, after many doctor visits and many tests I found chronic fibromyalgia, and after evaluating and conduct a comprehensive review told me that the most appropriate to ease the pain were lortab, vicodin or oxycodone, but I asked my doctor to prescribe me the most effective and less addictive and prescribed Lortab, have already taken this medication 2 years and though it causes some kind of anxiety I control myself properly, I have no problems so addictive, I think if they know their anxiety is effective restraint, this is good because these narcotics findrxonline indicate that opioids can be very dangerous.
ReplyDelete