Top Stories from Drug Topics: April 2014
http://drugtopics.modernmedicine.com/drug-topics/news/top-stories-drug-topics-april-2014
From the article :
Steve Ariens’ “When valid prescriptions are refused” was far and away the leader in April, drawing twice as many page views as the next-closest story and a torrent of e-mails and posts that went on for days.
Dealing with the dispensing of control drugs can be a double edged sword.. some Pharmacists – maybe too many – are taking the stance that it is better to make sure that the first dose doesn’t get into the hands of the wrong person… than to make sure that all persons that have a valid medical necessity gets their medications. Throwing chronic pain pts into withdrawal is preferable .. and not considering that those who will abuse substances.. will find some substance to abuse
Hopefully this will start changing…
Filed under: General Problems
Its not the films of a MRI but the report from the radiologist after he reads the films and explains what he/she has seen on the MRI scan. The last MRI I did they scanned my entire spine, cervical, thoracic and lumbar. My cervical spine is pretty messed up and its spread to my thoracic spine , I cant tell you word per word exactly what it read but from what I gather its not good and causes severe chronic pain. The root sleeves in between the disc have lost their elasticity and it pinches off nerves. Then there is narrowing of the ?
Cold weather is not good for me, I like the summer time. Its frightening to think what my future holds for me. I would never raise my voice to a pharmacist , that would be rude and just asking to get a big NO ,we don’t have this medication.
Pain just woke me up because my head against the pillow pushes the disc against others and that’s all the sleep I will get once the pain starts. 6 hours of sleep is good but 7 would be ideal. Then I repeat the same process over each day ,I walk 3 miles in the morning. I must keep moving ,a body at rest seems to stay idol, but a body moving in motion seems to be what works for me, that’s till I get so tired I cant hold my head up. What I just wrote is the amount of what I can write and I have to stand up and move my body. Then come back and write a little more . Plus in the morning I have this crunching noise in my jaw when I open my mouth but it goes away in about 20 minutes. It sounds like fluid in my ears, but no pain. All of my pain is in my neck, this came from a roll over car accident when I was 28 but the pain didn’t start till I was 40. The ER doctor warned me when I get older I might have neck problems. I walked away from that accident without a bruise, I rolled over 5 times according to the guy behind me that stopped and rendered aid.
I totaled my brand new Toyota hatchback , a cement truck ran me off the Hwy 3
when my left tires went off the pavement in to the grass I barrel rolled. I wasn’t wearing my seat belt ,so I rolled with the flow. If I would have had my seat belt on the roof collapsing down would have broken my neck. I saw this happen just months later. I was sitting at a red light and a Trans Am was going too fast to stop when his light changed red ,he hit the breaks and barrel rolled. Both people in the front seat had their seat belts on and when the roof collapsed it pushed their head backwards. I was first to respond and could not believe what I saw, 2 young men with broken necks. Life can change in a instant ,that’s why we must cherish every day we have on this earth. I was very lucky or had someone looking over me, I just taken off my seat belt and was about to turn in to a gas station. Then the next thing I knew some guy was shaking my shoulder asking if I was okay. I crawled out of the space that was once a windshield , and laid down on the hood of my car till the ambulance got there. They laid me down on the grass and sticker burrs where everywhere. Sticker burrs got tangled in the hair of my legs and that hurt more than anything. That car accident changed my life , I had no idea what my future held. I’m 58 now and doing okay , I pray my doctor keeps me on the pain management treatment he has me on. It took me 10 years to find the correct treatment for my chronic pain. I’ve been thru the epidural injections and other treatments that did me no good. Aggressive opioid therapy is what worked for me ,after exhausting all other options.
Plus walking my 3 miles 4 days a week and writing on websites like this one.
never raise your voice to a pharmacist huh? what if they short you 100 out of 180 pills 2 times in two months? yeah, i raised my voice, they even snarked at me when i made the count the second time. 100 short. been my pharm. for 4 years. sometimes, just once in a while… pharmacists aren’t gods.
The answer is easy. KNOW YOUR PHARMACIST. And make sure your pharmacist knows you. Do’s and Dont’s? Try these: Do have proper ID. Do present your insurance card. Do call ahead and ask if I’d be able to fill your prescription. Do shop locally. Do see a reputable, local physician.
Don’t come in to my store on a Friday night with a script from some doctor I’ve never heard of. Don’t try to pass off some out-of-state ID card (not a driver’s license) as valid. Don’t wave a wad of $20’s in my face. Don’t think you’re smarter than me.
Your pharmacist will be an advocate for you. Your pharmacist wants to fill your prescription. That’s what we do. Patients need to hold up their end of the bargain and they will get the meds they need. If you’re not legit you’ll get your ass handed to you.
If a pharmacist is not sure if a person is a true chronic pain sufferer why not bring our most recent radiology report from a MRI for the pharmacist to read. Or a letter from our pain specialist. Or the letter from a social security hearings judge stating his decision and why he came to that conclusion. It cant be that hard to prove a person truly suffers from chronic pain.
Speaking as one of the most vocal opponents of Steve being out of touch with what is happening in retail pharmacies on this blog as of late – I would fill a script for the sketchiest of pill mill doctors with an Rx for the holy trinity if they were to bring me a recent MRI. The MRI could read perfectly healthy, I don’t know how to read them. But knowing the doctor is actually doing something more than accepting money for a free script for xanax, soma, and oxycodone is all I’ve ever wanted.
and why should i have to be so vigilant when a diabetic would never be turned away in spite of the fact that insulin can kill people just as dead as narcotics or computer duster can?
Computer dust kills, well then I’m a dead man speaking.
Why be vigilant because of the name of this blog.
“When valid prescriptions are refused”
You mean computer duster in a can, Wellll, I’ve never used it or seen it. I use a tire inflator and connect the air blower to get the dust out of my computer. Now days people get high off the strangest things. Back in my younger days bagging is what desperate people did that where so bad off to get a high. This is disgusting.
i mean sure, you can see years of my mris, but if you can’t read them.. why is the burden of proof on the patient for some drugs and not others. this is not logical. if i want crestor would you ask my hdl? nope. frankly, sorry, but f- georgia rph. your job is to follow doctors orders. sorry, that’s all it is, but… that’s all it is.
i don’t owe you my life story or my private medical documents.
What a epidemic of phenomenal proportions, how did things get so far out of control for those that suffer from intense ongoing severe chronic @ cancer pain. And the chain pharmacies denying a suffering person the medications they need so badly.
We need to fix this out of control crazy epidemic that was mostly caused by people who divert opioids because of the lure of easy money. Now diverters can go back to selling heroin but the damage is done to the real chronic pain sufferers leaving us to deal with what we can get for a life of severe chronic pain.
We as pain sufferers must speak up and do whatever it is we can to fix this.
If you stay silent you will suffer in silence and life will be miserable yet again.
We as people of the U.S. deserve the proper treatment for our chronic pain.
I write and I write and I write and no one seems to listen or care. I will not be one of the people left in chronic pain, we must stand up and fight for our rights to be as pain free as possible.