To answer the first title question.There are many ways and even here where I can let fly with some harsh language that wouldn't make it into print at the local I can't completely unleash myself. I want people to take me seriously and not think of me as some foul mouthed crackpot. So I self censor many of my comments. For one I have never and will never publish the name of my PM clinic. If you want to really know I will tell you in a PM.
Since I have started writing here on DK, I have found a lot of kindred souls. It really is amazing that PM is as bad as it is. I really had thought I had gotten unlucky in my choice. Well not really my choice, I was referred to them by my Neurologist when he said he couldn't do anything to help. I would never have thought it was this bad until I found more horror stories so similar to my own, and there weren't just a few. More and more stories are coming out of how bad patients with chronic pain are being treated every day here in the US.
That is what is so sad. Those of us who live with daily pain have already lost a lot. Some of us have lost our mobility, others have lost their jobs and much more and some have given up and lost their lives. I can definitely understand that last part. Depression walks hand in hand with chronic pain. I have fought my own bouts with depression. I have fought them with no help from my PM clinic,even though they are the ones who helped cause a great deal of it. Every time I go in, as part of their qestionnaire, I answer yes to the questions on depression. Even when I had lost a relative and answered yes to that they have never asked me about it. They have never been bothered about my depression or offered help with it in any way and that borders on Malpractice. Depression is very real for those of us with chronic pain and it should be part of the treatment plan devised by the PM clinic and the patient and yet in most PM clinics it is not. They do not even have someone that they would normally refer you to for it. I know because I asked. I was told to just look in the phone book.
The horror stories from across the nation are mounting as average people are being left in pain. PM clinics are devising their own treatment protocols based more on what brings in the cash and not what will work best to relieve the patient of pain. The owners of these clinics hire PAs because they are much cheaper than doctors. I understand. Heck every business wants to make a profit but when making that profit comes at the cost of the patients it is 100% wrong ! PAs have less training than doctors and even doctors only get just about 10 hours of training on pain during medical school. These PAs have not gotten any more training in pain management but they have gotten a lot of training in how to spot doctor shoppers and addicts. Don't you think they should have more training in pain relief than they do in how to catch the patients who are only looking to get high ? After all these are Pain Management clinics not a supply site for addicts. Yes I get it. There is a real problem with prescription medication addiction. Instead of addressing the problem directly lawmakers and the purveyors of pain management clinics have decided to label all their patients addicts and have them prove they are not. What the hell happened to innocent until proven guilty ? Is this a new type of law ? Will there be more that give the police the right to treat everyone as a rapist or murderer ? Never. That would not be allowed. Yet pain patients are judged guilty until proven innocent. Heck in that great state of Tennessee the lawmakers gave the A okay to law enforcement to obtain medical records without a warrant from any pain clinic. How in the heel does that protect patient privacy ?
Sorry about that but it is a little aggravating nowadays. We live in a society that HATES addicts. Doesn't matter what type they are. Instead of helping addicts society wants to punish them. Yes they have made poor life choices. Yes I agree something needs to be done but it sure isn't vilifying them and incarcerating them. We truly need a diversion program for non violent addicts. It could incorporate both inpatient and out patient counseling for addicts as well as life skills classes and even schooling for those who have dropped out of high school. When they get caught, instead of 6 months in jail or some longer sentence. They can be sentenced to the rehab program. They would be evaluated and depending on their addiction and how bad it is they would be put into either in or out patient counseling. For those on out patient counseling piss tests every other day would monitor their use of drugs. Any positive test bounces them straight to inpatient. For inpatient Testing would be twice a week on random days. 2 Positive tests bounces them to jail and a double sentence. Both in and out patients could attend life skills classes and so build their lives back. They could also get special training in fields that are growing and would allow them to get internships and even full time jobs during treatment. To fund it they can use all that drug money they confiscate. That's the basics of my idea but there is a lot more to it than that. The fact is we need to have compassion for these people. I am just as guilty of it as everyone else. Obviously or why else would I be pissed about being treated as an addict.
Let's jump down below the orange jungle gym and look at more ways we can change PM clinics for the better.
I know I am not the only one who has been treated like crap at pain management. Heck I even bet that those of you who are reading this and have read my past diaries have some ideas on how to make pain management better. Okay We are working on a pain patient bill of rights. That is one thing. I have heard repeatedly we need to do away with the DEA. Not going to happen. Let's get realistic. I'm serious about this, ideas that make sense like requiring doctors and PAs who own and work at PM clinics having extra education in pain management. Barring drug reps from visiting pain management clinics, would be another great idea. We all know big Pharma is just waiting to tell us all the fake uses of it's latest miracle drugs. Requiring them to have so many credit hours of on going education every year in the pain management field would be another great idea.
So we have a start of some decent ideas on making pain management a place that would actually treat patients right. Would work with their patients to keep their pain under control as much as they could. That said we need more ideas we can build upon. MLK had some great ideas but I bet he didn't have them all. They came from all kinds of people all across the spectrum of humanity. That is what is needed now. Your ideas. Hey I am not going to laugh at them. Sure some people may and some people can kiss my well you get the idea. That idea you think is not that great may turn out to be stellar. That idea you think is so awesome may fizzle and be a dud. But it takes all of us together to start changing the system. SO here it is. The big plea. Share this on FB with all your friends, Share it on Twitter or any other place you think it would get seen. Take a few moments and let us have your ideas in the comments. Tell us what would be a great change from your point of view. I don't claim to have all the ideas. So share this and get your friends and family involved. Just because they don't happen to live in pain doesn't mean they will not have ideas. Please take a few moments and let us know what you are thinking.
Thanks ahead of time
Tony aka funtony47