2014 New Pain Medication Laws Dictating To Doctors That They Cannot Prescribe Anything Equivalent 120 Mg Of Morphine Or Higher A Day Per Patient (Page 30)

I was told Friday by my Pain Management Doctor at my monthly appointment that the DEA was implementing a new law dictating to doctors on how much pain medication they could prescribe per patient per day. It could be equal to no more than 120 mg of Morphine per day per patient and they had to comply within 3 months for all of their patients. I am trying to find out as much information on this as possible. I don't know if my Pain Management Doctor is stating fact or if he is just running scared and if he is stating fact, I don't know if this is federal or state (Alabama) mandated. I spoke directly with the Southeastern division of the DEA in Atlanta this morning and they are not aware of any law of this nature coming into effect and I also contacted another pain clinic locally that has never heard of it either. So I have been trying to reach my Pain Management Clinic and get a copy of the law itself so I will know if it's federal or state and if it is an actual law or just a state regulation and if it's even true but so far no one has called me back so I thought I'd try my luck here and see if anyone has heard of this. This really has me bothered. It looks like either way, true or not, to get adequate pain care I am at least going to have to move out of state if not the entire country. I will ask my questions about that in a different post. But if this is in any way true, and it seems my pain doctor is going to be going by these guidelines whether it is or is not true, it is going to cut my pain meds by almost half. I am on 120 mg of Oxycodone and 8 mg of Dilaudid per day which I was told equals 212 mg of Morphine per day. And before someone decides to tell me that I don't need that much pain medication, I will go ahead and say to you, you don't know me, you don't know what conditions I have that cause me Daily Severe Chronic Pain and other Daily Severe Pain to warrant that much medication, you don't know my tolerance for pain meds, I do NOT take any pain medication to feel high, I ONLY take pain medication to relieve some of the pain as what I am on doesn't even relieve all of my pain, I do NOT drink, I do NOT do street drugs, I see my doctor every 28 days just as I am supposed to, I take my medication as prescribed and the way I am supposed to take it except when I had extreme oral surgery a month ago and I did have to break up my tablets for about a week but they were put on my tongue and NOT up my nose and they were IR tablets so I was fine doing that as I had checked with my pharmacist prior, and you don't feel what I feel or see me lying in bed 24/7 crying from the pain because it is so excruciating and unrelenting so please before anyone starts telling me that I don't need that much pain medicine just stop now before you even start. Those of you that have to live with daily pain will surely understand where I am coming from being this defensive as I'm sure you know you are treated as a drug addict by most doctors even. Thanks in advance for any help with my question.

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BL I haven't pursued it since while on opiates all symptoms are relieved.....

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Hydromorophone is the generic or medical name for dilaudid.

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Spyz, I spent 6 good years of my life in severe pain and my world had grown to the size of my bedroom and bathroom. No Dr. could "see" what was wrong with me, so there was nothing wrong with me, other than being a bored housewife wanting opiates. With the exception of tooth surgery I had not been on any opiate in 42 years. I was carrying back library books in a huge stack and did not know there was a speed bump. I went down and so went down hard. Went to ER, nothing on x-ray, Cscan, or MRI. Here are 9 Vicodin and see your regular dr. In the middle of changing health ins, no primary Dr. I grinned and bared it. My life included screaming into a pillow so the neighbors wouldn't hear. Couldn't, work, drive and though friends hung in there there's just so much good times talking over a bed table. We had a family vacation coming up booked a year in advance and partially paid. We opted to go. The places we were going to were about 500 mile round trip. On that "vacation" we were riding cable cars to get to our destination. I got a real workout, with no possibility of getting off until the trip ended. I was in so much pain. This place was based on an old western town. Nothing but hard wood benches everywhere. I did do one morbidly entertaining thing while there, they had a coffin standing upright, stuffed with whatever and sewn with pink silk. Looked like the most comfortable place I'd find, I got in crossed my arms and let anybody who wanted to, to take a picture, long as I could remain in there. That did not go over good with the management. My husband ended the vacation and we headed to the biggest hospital around, Vanderbilt in Nashville. I could not have arrived at a better time, a fellow neurosurgeon was visiting. They ask if I would be a volunteer patient, comping the bill if they could show how they ruled out problems. Told him never diagnosed never helped. Since my last bunch of evaluations, I had the entire L5/S1 spine bulging all the way out, with two more to follow. I told him that was horrible but it was the burning, 3rd degree pain of my right leg leaving me in worse pain. I had run into, by accident, on vacation one of the few Dr.'s seriously studying Reflex sympathetic dystrophy. One of the first things he did was evaluate the the nerves in that upper right leg. My diagnostic results came out looking like a roller coaster. The Dr said after numerous studies, RSD was like a 3rd degree burn and the only thing that can help that kind of pain is opiates. I know I had been told 120 that's it, but because of my excellent Dr.'s notes and diagnostics on file, I don't want to say where but I am over 2 1/4 x the 120 dose mg. I don't know if they have done any nerve evaluation on you, but without them, I would still be sitting up in my room in my bed. I did attempt to have my back repaired, 4 surgeries, and a titanium cage. I would advise anyone to try everything first! My back is a mess. I did have to go to a specialist for opiates, but in some cases, with good notes apparently you can go over the limit. At the same time, I watched as the police escorted two people away for Dr shopping because they said, "Florida is the only state that does not have an internal system to inform other pharmacist that they have just been to their store. The whole thing will turn out bad, there will be OD's, new illicit drug users, and suicides. I think it's one of the most poorly thought out idea in years!! And yes I could of been one of the three mentioned above.

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Spyz, if all symptoms are relieved with opiates, it is highly doubtful it is MS. Chances are that is why an MRI with contrast of the brain was not done.

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BL and NOEL all good advice, thanks..I already know I have osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gouty arthritis, fibromyalgia, arthritis in all joints, sciatica, myotonia congenital, distal atrophy, migraines, occipital neuralgia (which could also be a cause of OccipitalNeuralgiaVertigo) many old sprains and breaks throughout body, DDD, meninges leak, and old ununited fractures in vertebra...and yes I do believe I started out as Endogenous Deficient in the first place....and doc I saw first time lied to my face and said Its against the law for me to give more than 4.......I told him that the levothyroxine reduces absorption rate of oxy by 30% could he at least raise it so I get the amount he thinks he should prescribe me? He said "it's against the law" lies I know....10mgs IS helping mobility and leg pain.....mbeing on 120-600mgs a day for past 6 years...I forgot about back pain n now it's back with a vengeance, along with the complimentary head, neck pain that goes with it.....I'm getting sick of trying to find a doc that really gives a damn....,if it weren't so expensive I'd go back to self medicating

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Well, friday I finally got an appt with a Primary Care Physician in Gresham, OR. I didnt mention before that in addition to chronic pain, I have severe P.T.S.D. Ive been sitting in bed dreading the thought of facing life, doctors or even people but I finally worked up the nerve to try to get my pain medicine re established and to get some antidepressants in me before I open my eyes and realize Ive been here for 10 years! My doctor was kind and professional and I almost thought she was going to end my suffering and prescribe my pain medicine but....as I had been warned, straight from the Doctors mouth in Oregon, they were given a strict notification in September that absolutly no new pain medication scripts were to be written and they had been told to wean EVERY pain patient off their medications. She also said this included hospitals! I felt defeated again and left in tears. The only thing I can think to try is to go to a Washington doctor and see if they have to adhere to the same guidelines. Does anyone know if an Oregon patient CAN go to Washington and get around the new rules in Oregon? Thank you. . .

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Not true I have M.S. confirmed by M.R.I and fibromylgia and opiates do wonders for me everyone is individual however they right dosage kept me working now taken away I am couch or bed ridden

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Jennifer, there are more serious symptoms of MS than pain.

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I too am a victim of the pain management attack on AMERICAN CITIZENS. I'm interested the group you mentioned. Will you please let me know how to get involved?

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BL - îf you insist upon giving your uncaring, un qualified advice then you need to present more info about yourself.
Exactly what makes you any type of authority (educated or experienced) so you are even qualified to spew your be-littling attitude towards us.
This forum is for those of us in need of help and empathetic guidance. You offer statistics which are given with superiority of self. Please take yourself down a notch and let us know who you are, where you are coming from.
None of us needs an unknown with cruel intentions and false information.

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I am interested in finding a good dr. in the Nashville area , I had lung cancer, it was attached to 4 of my ribs they removed 3 inches off them, scraped my back bone until it cracked, now I have 6 vertebras fused together, in pain 24/7, I need a good dr. Any help out there?

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Yes there is more to M.S than pain those a which are the reasons I am in the pain I am in sadly. Over 20 years of living with it trying everything possible to see what works and doesn't. I have found opiods for me personally help greatly with my pain and also notice when my pain is controlled I have fewer relapses. When my pain is controlled my body and mind are freed up to take on other complications that may arise and many times don't cause as much damage however if not controlled my system is in a free fall and hard to recover if at all.

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Wayne, try CPS in Hendersonville, or Nashville or the area you live in...They used to give high enough ER and up to 4 30mgs a day of Oxy.,. They stopped taking my insurance and I heard started cutting back everyone's dosage, but check them out. Comprehensive Pain Specialist

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Wayne try CPS Hendersonville, Hermitage or Brentwood--they had me on 120 Oxy/day and 50mcg Fentanyl every 48 hours--that was until they stopped taking United Healthcare TennCare

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Spoke with my Dr today. I've been on painkillers for 13 yrs. I had told him a while back that I thought I was building up a tolerance for the Norco. He said well let's give it some more time. Well in between then n now the gov got in n started this s***. So Dr cuts back my meds. Now I've been on n off a cocktail of meds n as of late I've been taking Norco, Soma and Xanax. He said that it's called the "Deadly Trinity"! Said more people die each yr on this cocktail than die in car wrecks. U really do learn something new everyday!

Anyway, he said that it is not just the opioids that attribute to the 120 mg Morphine equivalent. It is all the meds accumulated.
He did increase the Norco, but only by cutting out the Soma all together. He said that there is actually an app to punch in all the diff meds and they are added up to give u the equivalency.

But what I wanted to say was Hydrocodone is an extremely prescribed Med. People have found ways to abuse it and f*** it up for those of us who depend on it. He said that because of the acetaminophen in it it is really watched closely by everyone. I asked him how he would justify his increasing it for me. He said that in conjunction with all criteria the most important one was functionality. I have a job, home, raised my family by myself, am clean cut, articulate and know what I need to say to convey my needs. I was taken a back by this and he said that Dr's can justify their prescribing by being able to point to u and say this person can and does function in society and is productive, because I prescribe the meds I do. But if I didn't he/she would not be able to.

Now think about this. It is just a different take on all the comments I have read on here. Our Dr's hands are being tied after the same people told them back in the 90's that everyone in pain should be prescribed opioids and that they were not harmful or addictive. Sound familiar? Kind of like big tobacco huh.

But anyway, my Dr thinks that a lot of this is justified to keep people from dying everyday, but he also believes that this won't last forever.

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I was told on Monday by my Pain management doctor that it could be no more than 90mg of morphine per day per person . I am in a pickle to since I have been with my pain management doctor for over 15 years and now I have been on Morphine sulfate 200mg in the am and 200mg in the Pm. for 8 years , after all he is the person that put me on the meds and increased then time after time. I am not going to be cut 100mg per month , so not looking forward to this . I think maybe our doctors have got into some trouble or something. IDK and for anyone who says anything about my pain meds I have RA ,Lupus, you do not know what someone else is going through until you have walked in their shoes. To the person I an replying to please keep me updated on what you find out.

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There are no actual laws governing the dosage a doctor can prescribe a patient. Recommendations and Guidelines are not the same as Laws.

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As far as I know there may be some pressure on Doctors, I contacted my insurance and explained my current medical issues and they were not on board and spoke of this so called Law. So I requested an appointment with my insurance to discuss why they denied my meds and I would be bringing documentation from Dr and they better know my health history before deciding what I need. It all stopped right there and my meds got filled: I believe the legality of the contract with your Dr and there responsibility outweighs the DEA pressures. Challenge them it's your Dr this is what they went to school for and have a license to do Understand that losing their license will not hurt them as much financially as being sued by 1 or more people for improper or unethical care and having there reputation demolished. Also whom ever employees them has to protect themselves as well as there Dr. If you are legitimate don't feel compelled to talk to everyone involved and be knowledgeable of your treatment and ALL laws that protect you. Don't Give Up. DEA OR FEDS HAVE THERE LAWS AND SO DO STATES AND YOU! Research and utilize all information and double check to keep it on the up and up before they put you down like a dog! Medical marijuana is being legalized and recreational use of it. Have you heard the DEA go after Dr for prescribing pot it is federally illegal pills aren't.

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BL YOU ABSOLUTELY ARE 100% correct!
They are in the same category as the person who wasn't voted for president. Lie and deceive and get no reprimand stil get paid while patients suffer

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So sorry for your pain and troubles. I hope by now you are achieving pain levels of five at least. I wanted to answer your question about hydromorphone coming up in the drug panel and confirmation. This is a metabolite from morphine and will turn up in patients taking morphine on a long term basis. It came up each time on my drug panel for the past four years. Always be careful and tell the doctor all meds even over the counter because they will give incorrect readings. For instance I went for an initial visit with pain management due to my move and they gave me a drug panel. This prick came into the room judgmental and made me feel like trash. I also have a condition where my skin will blister.. long story short he presented me to his residents and nurse practitioner without asking permission. They were in awe looking at my extremities and skin that becomes mottled from the crps. After the charade he said, "why are you smoking methamphetamine?" I said what, with my mother in the room and just laughed. I thought he was joking but I was wrong and he said I needed help he couldn't give me such as an institution. Wow this was surreal because I would have no idea how to make it or smoke it. After one week the denial disappeared with pure anger. I called the medical supervisor/doctor and explained everything that took place. Long and behold the confirmatory readings came back negative. It was the Zantac that made the preliminary readings positive. Doctors should never assume and wait for final confirmation. Oh boy did the director apologize for his actions and asked for me to come back and start my monthly infusions. I said no thanks, you make sure this prick does not do this again.

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