I'm wondering what is wrong with doctor's these days? They all seem to be afraid to actually treat their patients. As more and more states are cracking down on "pill mills" and drug abusers, chronic pain patients are being labeled as second class citizens. We are all being lumped in with the drug abusers, and are not being taken care of by the doctors we depend on to try and help us gain a little quality of life. More and more states are enacting laws which almost make it criminal to take pain medications. Doctor's are afraid of losing their licenses, and they have just stopped taking care of the people who need them the most.
I am not a drug addict. I am not looking for a high. In fact, at the moment, I do not take any narcotic pain medication. It isn't that I don't need it; I simply cannot find a doctor willing to prescribe it. Many of the pain clinics are not willing to treat you if you are not willing to undergo injections of some sort. The truth is, it is through the injections that they make the majority of their money. I don't want anymore epidural injections. I am afraid that they do more harm than good, and I have not had a lot of success with them. Because of this, I am having trouble finding a pain management doctor.
The following is a portion of the modern Hypocratic oath:
"I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick."
I think too many doctor's have forgotten about the oath that they took. Doctor's are so afraid of the consequences of treating the pain patient that they have let this part of the oath fall by the wayside. We are not considered important anymore, and this is a sad state of affairs.
I think we can all agree that preventing drug addiction and death's from overdosing on narcotics is important, and there have to be certain controls in place. The true pain patient does not mind periodic drug screenings. We do not mind having to use the same pharmacy, or receiving our medications from only one prescribing physician. What we do mind is automatically being labeled as a drug abuser, or worse, being refused any treatment at all. We simply ask to be treated as people, with a medical condition which may not be easy to treat. We would not allow an animal to suffer, and yet, we seem to think that there is nothing wrong with allowing a person to suffer.
The Golden Rule states "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". If I had the power to ease the suffering of another human being, I would. I would not expect someone to live in unending pain. I would not expect someone to live the life that so many of us are having to live today. While we may not be able to march on Washington, we can all write letters. I urge you to write to your state and national representatives and let them know what we are going through. They need to hear about those of us who are being made to suffer because of the laws being enacted today.
And to our doctor's, I urge you to find the courage to once again begin treating your patients. You cannot judge everyone of us as being a potential drug addict. What happened to "First, do no harm."? I realize that this may be taken to mean you don't want to prescribe medication which has a potential for abuse. But these medications have a place and fill a need. Don't forget that there is an entire segment of the population who need you, and yet you have turned your backs on us. Please, take care of the people who need you, instead of looking for the drug addict behind every corner.
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