Pain patients left in anguish by doctors who fear opioid addiction

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Chronic pain patients are suffering as 'terrified' doctors cut back on prescribing opioids

Ken Alltucker and Jayne O'DonnellNew York resident Mickey Saxbury worked on a General Motors assembly line for 25 years before sharp, throbbing back pain from an on-the-job injury forced him to retire.

Chronic pain patients such as Saxbury are becoming increasingly vocal about what they say is a medical community that’s shutting them out. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidelines in 2016 to cut back prescriptions after years of liberal opioid dispensing contributed to addiction and overdose deaths.

"The right thing is to follow that balance," said Sharfstein, who is now a professor and vice dean at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The guidelines"shouldn’t be used as a kind of cudgel to reduce appropriate prescribing."Many chronic pain patients question whether the revised policy will bring them relief.

"This is not to be critical of his treating physician as this approach is relatively new," Grammar wrote."However, in the absence of functional improvement, this patient is undergoing extraordinary risk with little benefit."Based on the judge's decision, Saxbury said his doctor cut his daily pain prescription by half. He cannot muster the energy or tolerance to do many daily activities.

"With few exceptions, the patients are innocent," Grammar said."They're not writing the prescriptions."States have responded to the addiction crisis by passing laws that aim to reduce opioid prescriptions. Federal statistics show total U.S. opioid prescriptions have declined each year since 2012. However, that trend accelerated since the CDC issued guidelines.

Downey served a three-year term on the Georgia Medical Board through mid-2018 and chaired the board's pain committee. He told colleagues he was not interested in another term because his medical practice was so busy with patients turned away by other doctors. But he said such patients often are able to maintain regular activities such as working, spending time with family or going to church.Doctors are 'terrified of addiction'

Garrett Greene, 27, was dropped as a patient by his pain management doctor last month. He said the doctor told him he wasn't comfortable seeing a cystic fibrosis patient.

 

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Disgusting how can some random doctor who hasn't even examined you decide your treatment disgusting treatment

Imagine being in profound pain — has that ever happened to you—and not getting the relief you need. Docs are terrified, rightly so, but people in chronic, sever pain will find a way to get something. Isn’t it better it’s under a doc’s supervision?

Opioids most often lead to dependency and should not be considered for person suffering from chronic pain. They need to find something new. Doctors need to find something different to prescribe

Unfortunately the push for 'pain control' and higher patient satisfaction scores pushed the pendulum too far, now overcorrecting is necessary...patients will suffer.

I don’t think Opioids are the problem, nor are they the solution. The doctors that over prescribe them are to blame. If they are only used for short term & stopped, then you won’t build up a tolerance & abuse them. 90 per month is way more than necessary. Be careful.

EXACTLY !

Try CBD. It works.

They should stop being terrified, that’s a bitch move, try CBD and kratom instead.

Addiction is terrifying...and terrible. Remember, the manufacturer of Oxy was fined for lying about the addictive qualities, underplaying it, and paid $630 million on fines....only to be allowed to continue selling it and rack up billions in sales

My husband was injured on the job and had a spine surgery,he has never taken any opioids, his doctors have no balls and won’t prescribe him shit. Thank gosh for Marijuana or he would have killed himself years ago.

Terrified of their own mistakes I concur.

go see dr wirth in Rockford. he still prescribes them for a tooth getting pulled.

Opioids need to go away for everything but acute pain (surgery, heart attacks) and real, effective pain management strategies need be developed. Unfortunately our prescribers all fell under the spell of Purdue Pharma's quick fix and we are at least 20 years behind the 8 ball now.

This is absolutely true. As a healthcare provider, I can tell you the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction. We need to prevent abuse, but we also need to treat people with real pain.

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