Pain Management?

Question:

I have 3 herniated disc and was seeing a pain mangement physician for the past several months. In the beginning I signed a contract which states I would only get pain medication from the pain management doctor. He put me on MS Contin. Unfortunately 4 months later I 4got that I signed it & had more then one occasion went to urgent care for what can only be described as break thru pain.They would prescribe Vicodin ES for 20 or so pill. It helped tremendously in between & I was already aware that pain mgmt couldn't adjust the MS Contin.Yesterday when I went to pain mgmt for my monthly script the doctor said they could no longer see me and that the DEA files showed that I had filled 3 or 4 scripts for Vicodin from urgent care. He gave me 1 last prescription. I was and am devasted. I am terrified of the pain to come when those pills r gone & I am terrified that the DEA is black listing me.Will I be able to go to another pain dr. like he suggested or am I in some sort of legal troub?

Answers:
Hi - I would suggest you see another pain management physician and be up front as to what happened. The American Academy of Pain Management endorsed this type of contract in 1998. (I have included a link below)

It is important when being treated with opiods that you deal with just one source. If you find that the current pain medication is helping - talk to your attending physician.

Good luck.

sorry to hear that, its sad that peope that dont even need the medicine can get away with getting it from several doctors, and its so hard to find a doctor that actualy wants to give those of us that need it the medicine that helps.
I would try another pain doctor. Since your "contract" with him is up I would think it would be okay.
Good luck.

You can definitly go to another pain management doctor.
In regards to legal trouble I highly doubt that you are, unless they feel that you are doctor shopping, which I dont, because you went to Urgent Care.
The reason he cant/wont see you is becasue by law he can only write you prescriptions for so much medication. Anymore and he could lose his license.

i dont believe you are in trouble, u just violated the terms of your contract with that pain clinic. ofcourse try another md, one who is more caring, but before that, have the doctor now tell u why he cant treat you. maybe its a misunderstanding. pain is pain right? goodluck;)michele

I can only give you information that I know. I have never worked for a pain management doc, but I worked for a family practice for several years. I've never heard of the docs having access to 'DEA files'. I don't know for a fact, but they may just be trying to scare you. What we would do at our office if we thought someone might be doctor shopping is we would call their pharmacy and others in the area and ask if the patient was a 'frequent flyer'. They knew what we meant by this.were they getting narcotics from multiple other docs besides us. They would give us the drug names, the amounts, the dates and the doc names. Then we would confront the patient. Usually we would never see them again.

Now, as I said before, I have no idea how pain management docs work. They may very well do the same thing. They may 'spot check' so to speak when they have patients on strong narcotics, since you signed a contract.

What I would do is first, call them back or, even better, write a letter to them and admit that you violated the contract. (Send it certified mail with return receipt so they'll know you're serious and you'll know they received it.) Explain that in your pain, you went to an urgent care center because you couldn't stand the pain. Tell them that you had forgotten about the contract and that you didn't mean to violate it. Ask for a second chance. If they refuse, find another doc. In the meantime, you could see your PCP and explain the situation. He is obligated to take care of you until you can find another specialist.

God bless.

JOY

Pain Management?

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