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I keep my pills in those lil dosage cases so I knew exactly what I had to take daily. One day after grocery shopping with wife she was carrying my pill case and a cup of coffee and a arm full of groceries. She leaned to far and the coffee spilled into my pill case and destroyed my meds. So of coarse we called it in to replace. And this is where my hell begins.

After calling doc office for replacements I was treated like a drug addict and wife was asked if I was just trying to get more drugs. Wife offered to take damaged pills to doctor to show that was t the case. Anyways after 3 times of explaining what happened and what we was trying to do my wife called the clinics phone operator a idiot. That was all it took. About 3-4 days later I recieved a letter that they was dropping not just me but my entire family because the phone operator got butt hurt because she was called a idiot.

I was left with nothing .no help no referrals no anything. Only thing they left me with was a very bad morphine addiction. I did contact another doc office but takes time to get records transferred and all that. I ran outta morphine before I could even be seen.

It has now been a week of no morphine and I went through hell. I am poor and couldn’t afford a detox center and after being constantly sued for medical bills I couldn’t go to Er and justify another huge bill that I will leave behind for my wife after I’m gone. So I went cold turkey and had nothing but my wife and water to help me through. The hard withdraws are over but the chills and sweats still hitting me hard. My throat closed quite a bit and my already sick body feels like it was thrown to some staved dogs. I feel the worst has passed but I find myself getting really angry and stresses when I think about what my doctor did to me. For a few nights I felt like my head was on fire.

After a week I’m feeling better and can see me perking up. This was the hardest thing I ever faced in my life. My question is – Is there anything legally I can do to stop this doctor from doing this to anyone else? I don’t care about money all I want is for him to suffer like I did for what he’s done. Do those vows new docs take mean anything at all anymore? What doctor gets a term ill patient hooked on drugs and then after years on it just drops them? How is this legal?

Any advice would be helpful. Thank you Matt

Myths, beliefs, and outright lies have overcome the practice of pain management; again. Monica, I call it the Distortion of Medicine by drug-war, law-enforcement imperatives. Several essays and papers here attempt to clarify the history of this problem; alas understanding will not relieve your pain.

I am so sorry it is this way. I have no new advice on how to work this insane, abusive system. EXCEPT to say, please do not give up, keep getting referrals from friends, relatives, priests pastors psychologists and prostitutes. Ask everyone and keep seeing docs; if they reject you ask them for a name or two you could try. Oh, and no panic in docs offices; it can be very difficult, but keep your self-respect up, know what you are talking about, try to be calm.

Keep Trying – there are docs out there who haven’t taken the kool-aid; they are admittedly hard to find, but not always impossible. If possible, try pain services in major (as in huge) medical centers as they are far less likely to be targeted by DEA (who prefer older, loner docs in community practice for a long time – who are more likely to have assets worth seizing before trial, and lousy legal representation, compared to docs surrounded by medical corporations with serious legal power.) US ADA’s always take the easy, lazy way – sans any ethical prosecutorial discretion – in drug war Fed cases against docs and patients.

I am so sorry. I know how hard it is to do much of anything when you hurt really bad; I swear I do. Just try to try, OK? ..alex…

thank you, everyone for the generally excellent, experiential, questioning and responsive Comments. It has been an honor being your host and moderator. ..alex…

You know, I disagree with the belief system that I think underlies your Comments. It doesn’t “sux” that a lot of people have pain that isn’t adequately treated except with chronic opioid therapy; that is just true. And over 80% (depending on one’s ‘definitions’) of chronic pain patients do not experience debilitating or untreatable side effects. Nor are opioids themselves disabling with a competent medical doc and a decent doc-patient relationship.

And yes, pharmaceuticals can be a very lucrative business. So what? Why do you single out opioids?

Almost every other prescription medication has a worse side effect profile, as do most OTC meds, like the NSAID’s (asprin, motrin, naprosyn, etc.) Those non-opioids, often prescribed in a tragic medical effort to avoid prescribing opioids do, regularly and predictably, cause death on a scale orders of magnitude more than opioids which are not cytotoxic – they don’t kill cells. And in the presence of intractable pain, they are the only class of medications that can protect the spino-thalamic pain tracks, especially pain transmitting neurons in the dorsal horns of the spinal column. Only opioids can “close the pain gate” thereby sparing the dorsal horn and protecting the central nervous system from ongoing and progressive damage. PAIN causes measurable brain cell death; opioids do not.

But you think opioids sux. “It could lead to depression, and eventually suicide.”

Yeah; opioids could do that; chronic pain does do it. Suicide rates for chronic pain patients are double the national average.

I honestly don’t understand the general ‘ho-hum; hope it gets better’ attitude coming, usually, from substance abuse treatment/”recovery” vested-interest type folks. Do you seriously expect to sail through some life where you or yours won’t experience trauma, painful illness or treatment, cancer, mva’s, etc etc?

-damn!- It must be nice to feel so golden.

Unfortunately, the ostrich is not an effective life strategy, over any significant period of time.

Good luck!

Hope things will eventually work out :(

i’ll try to find it for you.

..alex…

'tis an honor to have you comment here. I've gotten a lot of personal support from your blogging efforts over the years.

I'm just about to close this shop down (to Comments) – the site will remain the resource library that it is.

Just wanted to say thanks for the few chuckles along the way. You rock; Sir.

god bless… ..alex…

You must comply with random UA's. Forget smoking pot…if you are not compliant..lit is YOUR FAULT. And YES you tell your DR what meds you take and you do not FILL other pain medications and keep that data from your Primary Pain DR.

You go to ONE pharmacy..and btw hospice pharmacies have all pain medications.

Part of your problems is you (most) are all talking about OxyContin. Well if you follow the news you will know that it is highly misused. Ask your DR to put you on something else. I did!

I have medical procedures, I let the dr count my pills…I will take any drug test…I have had issues…and here is the thing… Under treated pain looks like drug seeking behavior. As a chronic pain patients must be an open book… It is what it is….

It is not about being pain free.. It is about managing pain…

Life isn't fair. We have to live properly ..to be in the system… Until the rules change…and it is getting better in some places… Go to one pharmacy….see your pain management dr every month….exercise…go to therapy or church….have a hobby ….there is no magic pill or "fix".

It is process ..not perfection…yet keeping it simple…will help you.

I have had my battles too…and I am speaking from experience of what has been working..

Good luck !