Addiction, Pain and the War on Doctors – HOME
New Homepage for both the Addiction, Pain and Public Health website, and the War on Doctors/Pain Crisis blog – Alex DeLuca; 2009-08-07; revised: 2009-08-08.
Permalink: http://doctordeluca.com/wordpress/
See also:
Legacy Homepage – old doctordeluca.com/index.html, circa 2007
The Legacy Library page – Resources/References/Links pages
WELCOME to the NEW, COMBINED, HOME PAGE for BOTH:
The Addiction, Pain and Public Health website aka doctordeluca.com,
and,
the War on Doctors/Pain Crisis blog. Both of those old “homepages” are now this Homepage.
Clicking the “Home” tab at the top of every page brings you here. Clicking the “Blog” tab takes you to the War on Doctors/Pain Crisis blog part of the site. Bookmark whichever you prefer to start from in your browser.
This new, common, “HOME” page will become the top level index, or Table of Contents, for the overall Addiction, Pain and Public Health domain. I will build from that a series of browse-able index pages that will give people direct access to a lot of good primary documents that you just wouldn’t otherwise know were here. This will take time – expect this page to change and develop.
Meanwhile, use the search box in the upper right corner of every page – this is the best way to find what you are looking for on the doctordeluca domain.
Or browse the links on The Legacy Library page. Thank you for your patience, in advance. Sincerely, ..alex…
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help! My pain clinic has gone suboxone crazy, despite the fact that I have 3 contraindications to even think about taking this incredibly expensive, highly regulated, opiate. What do these docs get-points?
I got most of my records, and could not believe how inaccurate-to the point of outright lying the 'progress notes' were. They blamed the DEA. The only function of the DEA is to make sure regs are complied with regarding drug diversion. It seems that every doctor/clinic in town has forgotten their patients needs,& the Hippocratic oath due to being strong-armed by a federal agency overstepping their bounds. All our docs are scared of being shut down, losing their practice/licenses-they are afraid to prescribe. I guess it's every Doc for themselves, So much for me being able to attend my children's Holiday plays and speech/debate meets. Thank you so much DEA.
Unfortunately, sarah, that is what usually happens. Hundreds if not thousands of patients are left to scramble for fewer remaining docs willing to prescribe for pain, docs who are increasingly spooked every time another doc is hauled away to Court and jail.
The patients are left in a desperate lurch. Again, sadly common. See: War on Pain Sufferers Special Collections – which reviews a dozen or so War on Doctors cases.
Inevitably it is the patients who suffer the most.
I strongly suggest you contact the Pain Relief Network, and join their Chronic Pain Patients Forum for support and practical advice from an experienced membership: http://painreliefnetwork.org/forums/
..alex… Alex DeLuca, M.D., MPH
Hi bethann – yes, you are experiencing "collateral damage" from our nation's obsession with "drug abuse," as manifested in DEA's (a federal law enforcement agency under DOJ) defacto regulation of pain medicine in Åmerica. Suboxone and Subutex are basically OLD drugs – buprenorphine has been around for decades as an analgesic – which have be re-marketed as "anti-addiction" medications, and indeed a whole federal bureaucracy, controlled by DEA, has evolved to provide outpatient buprenorphine therapy as a treatment for addiction to heroin or other illegally consumed opioids.
All of which has NOTHING to do with pain patients. The reason you are experiencing this panicky push to get pain patients on buprenorphine is because it also happens to be an excellent analgesic, and is in fact the #1 medication for chronic pain in Europe where it is available as a transdermal patch. [See: High Dose Transdermal Buprenorphine for Pain by Alex DeLuca, 2008-09-22.]
Sooo, your doc's, who live in fear of DEA as you have noted, put one and one together and end up with a very expensive "two."
Since buprenorphine is supposedly 'less abusable' than morphine or oxycodone, and since it is also a pretty good analgesic, therefore let's look like we are really concerned about drug abuse and make all pain patients take the 'less abusable' medication.
Except Suboxone and Subutex are hundreds of times more expensive than generic morphine or oxycodone, while not in general being more effective pain-killers.
Expect A LOT more of this sort of capitalistic capitalizing of America's propaganda-fueled anxieties about "addiction." Several pharma companies are developing complex (EXPENSIVE) opioid meds that will make it more difficult for abusers to enjoy/die from, but which will not help pain patients any more than generic opioids.
Pain patients, like yourself, will increasing be forced to buy these very expensive medications in the name of the drug war; and if you complain, that'll just mean you are probably a "drug seeker" "addict."
Some links:
New Drugs Promise Treatment For Addicts, Profits for Firms by Peter Landers, Wall Street Journal (Personal Journal); February 20, 2003.
DEA Regulates Medicine archives – House of Representatives Hearings, 20017-07-12.
Thank you for your comment, bethann. And also to everyone else who shares their experience on these pages. And Scott, also, for your kind words.
..alex…
Alex DeLuca, M.D., MPH
(sounds like a laxative-srry)-Dear Alex-well, had to 'cold turkey rite b4 Xmas-thanx docs &DEA (and the fact that I have-insurance!) Have been in bed /incapacitated since-w/d meds helped, but I AM IN PAIN-i SHOULD KNOW last15+ years! Thnx 4 your website, know we r not alone. Already complained to FDA, DEA, Docs.,etc…This MT cold doesn't help either. New pain Doc. same old 'antidepressant, cortisone shots-wouldn't mind if they weren't so $$$ and didn't work! If I had the energy, Id' go to WA /DC and protest! Does anyone have the strength to do so? Hope many more sites like this 'crop up'. Oh-pharmaceutical owners/lobbyists-need to send their kids to college too. Hmmmmmm…
My PM Dr. decided NOT to take ANY insurance after Dec. 31, 2009……everyone HAS to pay $75 CASH….or you don't get in!!!! I pay $300 a mo for Medicare & AARP Supplement/RX….what's wrong w/this picture????
Doctors, all over the country, have proven that going "cash only" allows them to see more patients and do it at a cheaper cost. People who have insurance can go ahead and file it, but it becomes their responsibility. They also are the one that find out how much they are "allowed" for those visit. One might get back $45 o n a $75 charge. The doctor's office does not need as many personnel (avg 5-7 /doctor) to take the time to file all of the insurance, or deal with pre-approval or denial calls, and such. Most practices give you a "super-bill" that can be used to file the insurance.
If you find a way to come up with the $75, you can, still, be seen. That is still a better situation than most chronic pain patients get. They are thrown out on the street to fend for themselves with NO CARE! I am destitute, now, as well. My chronic pain is not too bad, so I can get away with not seeing a doctor for it.. But, I do understand you plight. I have been in the middle of it!
Sincerely, Michael G Langley, MD
I was taken out of medical practice while writing " LEGAL" prescriptions. The "regulations" don't mean a thing! It all depends on how aggressive the state is at getting rid of you. Sad to say, politics has a lot to do with what kind of care, a chronic pain patient, can get in this country. Most doctors will not give up their career to properly take care of chronic pain patients. They have families to care for, too. My wife took off with my two kids after that. Then got them adopted out! Long story! Now that they are grown, my kids contacted me again. HURRAY!!!
Dr DeLuca,
I am just getting a blank page on the drug law blog bookmark in the right column. I really enjoyed reading it, before. But now, all get is a blank page when I go there. Could I get another link for that?
Hi Michael!
Drug Law Blog seems to be down… I am not sure if that is a permanent or temporary condition. I've done just a very little bit of searching, and came up with nothing worthwhile.
Alex Coolman (webmaster of Drug Law Blog) – what's up? Has your site moved? Are archives available?
..alex…
I wonder, how soon we all will get it! More then ten years ago the Government started this total war of pain treatment culture annihilation. An official announsment was to declare the past decade to be " The decade of pain control" Couple of month ago Steven Passic, MD made a very sober conclusion, that the last ten years became the "years of pain doctors control, rather then pain control". Read the recent Ronald Libby's monograph "Criminalization of medicine". DEA officials see absolutely no difference between the real drug dealers. To get the whole picture of what is going on, I adress everyone who is really interested to get to the bottom of this crisis and see the whole picture, to the recent most objective, most informative and, unfortunately, most depressing book of Harvey Silverglade "Three felonies a day" . Read it – you will have less questions left but, likely, much more of emotional pain gained!
i was put on suboxene with two other pain killers and am only suppose to take a small piece of it every day. It suppose to stop addtiction and and with drawals if I should ever run out of other meds. So is that true or is it for the dea two
It seems to be a catch 22. If you are in severe chronic pain and go see aPain management doctor who has complelted a a full eduation fellowshipin pain. I believe they know what they are doing to relieve the pain for an individual patient with Ct and MRI scans.The DEA is basicaly sending us pain patients to the dogs or the streets. That is not helping us but hurting us even more. Accordingt to http://www.ninr.nih.gov/NR/rdonlyres; Simply stated Mophine like other opiate Meds like Hydrocodoe and oxycone provides a safe and effective pain treatment. Infact, opiates almost all pain can be relived. So, o one should sufer because they or the doctor
Hi Doctor Alex, I was just wondering if you had an update on how things are going in KS? How is Siobhan doing? I sort-of pieced together what's happened, but have not heard any news lately.
Thanks! Tricia in NJ
I'm a Moderation Management (MM) member and have been admirably following Doc Alex for a number of years. Are there any like-minded docs in the Chicago area? I completely agree with the Harm Reduction approach, and disagree with the 12 step approach, and am not physically dependant on alcohol. I'm looking to connect up with someone to help me with alcohol moderation. (I tend to binge on Fri or Sat night). I think it's time to add Naltrexone or substitution with MJ to the MM principles.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Hey Dr Alex!
That last comment had porno in it, when I clicked on thename.. I hope I don't get in trouble when my wife sees it came up on my computer!
Sincerely, Michael Langley, MD
thanks michael,
a few get past me -sigh-
..alex…
we should file a class-action lawsuit against DEA (democracy elimination agency)for causing us undue pain and suffering, child molesters, murderers and rapists are treated much better than doctors/pain patients, this country is turning into a fascist state, it's time that the DEA had some kind of oversight with some people from the community with some power, this was supposed to be a government by the people for the people and of the people