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 7)
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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 if you continue to be on this forum-let me ask you how you believe these guidelines and restrictions can be correctly initiated? Since they are NOT laws then how do we convince our drs to treat us as individuals not the cookie cutter limits on the guidelines?! These guides were also created for primary drs not pain drs yet still all pain drs follow these limits due to license loss fear. Would a legal suit be helpful or exactly what is the answer for legitimate patients to be treated according to their specific needs? Since you feel you have all the answers please tell us how to fix this propaganda fueled wrongly instituted set of guidelines & rules.

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I just heard this here in Ontario Canada. If it's true it's frigging BS that now the government is telling us and our doctors how much we can take for our pain. F*** that. I would kill myself if my dr tells me I must go lower. No way in hell will lower work. What do we do now?
Many ppl I bet WILL commit suicide rather than suffer in pain cause of the damn government sticking their nose where it doesn't belong.

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It always bewilders me how doctors of law are dictating what powers doctors of medicine have ...isn't it time we took medicine out of the hands of doctors of law & place it back where it belongs with doctors of medicine? Serious food for thought, the Portuguese have done it! They Decriminalised & recatorgarised all drugs! it's time the world grew up & stop wasting resources on a drug war that cannot be won! If I want to grow a coca bush for my personal pain management I will...or if I need longer term pain relief I could grow opium poppies in a window box! Obviously I can't do that here in Australia because the keystone cops would be piling on top of me if I did! Lol

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BL it's my u derstandi g that vertigo and pain are two symptoms of ms.yes there are many more of which I also present occasionally with. My two main concerns of of course the pain and vertigo. Through the process of elimination with vertigo, the only thing left for it to be is MS. MS INDUCED VERTIGO WAS AT ONE TIME AND MAY STILL BE TREATED WITH VALIUM AND OXYCODONE. (Sorry bout the caps) it's certainly the only thing that has stopped my vertigo dead in its tracks. I went from week long episodes and daily incidences to not one incident since being in pain management. Yes I've had the MRIS. THE DOCTORS CLAIM 'possible prior head injuries.'. If certain medicines relieve certain ailments then I'm gong with ' if that's what fixed it, then that's what it must have been. Yes I still gets some of the other symptoms but they don't devastate me like the vertigo did. All I know is vertigo and pain are two things that make death a welcome thought.

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I am interested in the group that is for pain patients also and would like information.

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

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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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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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