How do we stop dear FDA?

[skeeterinpain]

I was put on pain medication in 2007. After a few years, I was treated like a criminal when I turned my prescription into the pharmacy. I gogled and discovered that the FDA had declared war on doctors that wrote these prescriptions.Eventually, I asked my primary doctor if he ould prescribe me something called Suboxone that I had read about, that is supposed to help stop with taking the pain medicine. The doctor stated that if it was between him putting dinner on his table that night, or me living, he would opt for the dinner.  What is it that the FDA is doing? It has all these doctors to scared to help patients even stop taking pain medicine but it treats everyone as criminals that have been prescribed it for legitimate reasons  Why isn't the FDA being sued for creating this horrendous mess?  When you allow medicine to be sold, you are giving your word they are safe, so why is there such a big stink when people want to try and stop taking it?  Thank you for your time FDA.

[remar]

I just read an excellent article called, The myths and facts about Prescription pain meds. This was written by Drs at the Davis school of medicine. I was so happy to read this article because these Drs are fighting for us. They are trying to educate other Drs about real chronic pain patients, true drug addiction, the difference between how meds work on CPP's versus addicts, how meds can help with our pain and so much more.
There really are Drs out there fighting for us and our rights. I know I can't put the website here but if any of you would like to read it just send me a message and I'll tell you which website to go to so you can read this article.

[Tuckamore]

Hello and Welcome Skeeter,

I've been on vacation and am tardy in my response, sorry!

Oh my dear, it's so much bigger than the FDA. It began with the so called, "War on Drugs" which has really become the "War on Chronic Pain Patients."

The entire government is our fight, including the Media. The DEA is leading the war and the CDC recently joined that war. The FDA has been involved almost from the get-go. The Media loves these stories of drug abuse, selling and overdoses and deaths. We are not a "good story."  We don't sell well. We're too quiet and frighte4ned, like a deer in headlights.

Physicians are being watched like they are Criminal Drug Dealers as are the Pharmacies. If you read some of the threads here you'll learn more. Here's a link to one of my recent Journals.  

http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/show/1745919/CDC-Becoming-Involved-in-Opiate-RX-Guidelines-Bad-News-for-Chronic-Pain-Patients

It may take a litigation or two by astute attorneys to reclaim our rights - as we no longer have rights - and I mean none! We are treated like criminals and drug addicts and worse - like there's something wrong with us because we have Chronic Pain. It's a very sad situation.

In my humble opinion Suboxone is not the way for you to go. Find a competent PMP. There are still some good ones out there - still afraid of the DEA but to a lesser degree than our PCP.  In most areas of our country the government now requires extensive training for an PCP to order opiates - they are not quite as strict in our very rural and remote areas where physicians are far and few between. Patient documentation is extensive and must say all the right things - and physicians must do all the right things to avoid being Red Flagged by the government.

What can be done? Write to your state and local representatives - and write them again. Seek out appropriate petitions and sign them. Get involved with the Groups that are fighting for fair treatment of chronic pain and adequate pain management.  If you search this site you'll find some good information. I'll post more about this next week.

Hang in my friend in pain. Please be active in our community. Together we are stronger and support one another. I'll look forward to hearing from you again soon. I wish you the best.

Take Care,
~Tuck

[caregiver222]

It is not just the FDA. It is the politicians and the absolute nonsense concerning the "flavor of the month" which is the "war on drugs!". And the "gee-whiz" newspaper and magazine writers never fail to find a nonsensical story about "overdoses increasing". They managed to virtually make it a crime to prescribe valium, for goodness sakes, let alone opiates.

[remar]

I agree with you. I'm in pain management myself and it's horrible that we have to have our pills counted and have urine tests. My primary Dr had been treating my pain for two years but told me she would no longer be treating any more pain patients because of these new laws. This is happening to many of us. We're either losing our Drs or we're thrown in to pain management clinics that have complete control over our health and our pain.
So many people believe that pain meds will always lead to people getting addicted and moving on to street drugs. This is rare. Statistics show that real chronic pain patients are very good about taking their meds as prescribed and not moving to street drugs.
It's so sad what's going on. We're losing our personal relationships with our family Drs, people are lucky if they can even get in to a pain clinic, people are being under medicated, many are treated like criminals when they go to the pharmacy. None of us asked to have pain. We should be treated with kindness, respect and also be treated properly to keep our pain levels as low as possible. It's inhumane to let a person suffer needlessly.
You're so right, Drs are very scared of losing their licenses. They need to educate their selves on what the laws really are. What happened was they moved many of the pain meds from class 3 or 4 to class 2. The FDA is trying crack down on everyone and now we even have the CDC involved.
What we can do is sign every petition that we can find. We can also right our representatives. There's a website I go to that's called change, org. Hopefully I'm allowed to put the sites name here. Look for petitions on the drug laws and chronic pain patients. We all need to stick together and do everything we can to get things changed.
I'm so sorry you went through what you did with your Dr. Maybe you need to find another one who will help you taper off of your meds. Can I ask what your health problems are? I'm asking because depending on what's going on with you there could be alternatives to pain meds. I have back problems and I'm also very lucky to have a great pain Dr. I had trigger point injections yesterday and today I'm feeling some relief. I was really worried about getting them but so glad I did.