What is Chronic Pain
Chronic pain becomes chronic when it persists longer than 6 months and is resistant to medical management. Millions of Americans are chronic pain patients and some exper...
Join Now
|
About pain management contract
|
Watch this |
| View More Posts Ignore |
Hi :)
Sorry this is so long, but if you don't want to read it all, just scroll to the last two paragraphs. I hope someone can give me some advice. If this gets too long, I apologize in advance, but I feel I should give you a little backstory. I have been seeing a PM doctor for 6 mos. Every time I'd go in, he said he thought I could heal this (herniated disc), so he didn't want to give e the epidural or recommend surgery for me. They try to be conservative, which I appreciate, but it put me in a bit of a bind. This went on for a couple of months, and my pain kept getting worse, so I asked Dr to increase my Norco to 1 every 4 hours. I had a really bad flare up due to our recent move (since my husband had to work, it was up to me to pack, load, unpack, etc. everything except the furniture, which my husband rented a truck and moved that himself). Dr said no problem, go ahead and take 6. I finally got fed up with all the meds/pain, and at my next visit, begged for epidural. This time the Dr. (or should I say, his PA) acquiesced. Well, it didn't work. Meanwhile I'm doing PT, acupuncture, reiki, TENS, breathing/relaxation, whatever they told me to do, I did it, even another epidural. Next time I go in, PA sends me to surgeon. So now they want to do surgery? ok. I guess it's time. Then the surgeon told me there was nothing more they could do for me, and I got a little emotional (not hysterical, just silently crying) and said, "Well what am I supposed to do? I can't stay on pain pills forever. Isn't there something more you can do for my pain?" The surgeon got so angry, he stormed out of his office, telling me, in a very patronizing manner, "I'll refill your meds this one last time, we wouldn't want you to go through withdrawals". I sat there dumfounded. Then his PA came in with a piece of paper that had the name of another surgeon and a different PM clinic. PA said "Dr wants you to get a second opinion about surgery, and go get your meds at this other place with Dr. ______. " Yeah, right, they just wanted to get rid of me, I could tell. I tried to set up an appt with the new PM doc asap, but couldn't get in until Sept 4, which was two weeks from the day my Dr. dumped me. This meant I'd have to cut down on my pills b/c I didn't have enough to see me through 14 days, only 10, but I did get an appt. with the surgeon Dr. referred me to, who thinks I need surgery, and I'm in agreement with that. But first he wants me to go get my meds refilled by this other guy, and have him give me facet injections first, just to see if it works. Again, trying to avoid surgery. I went to my first appt. with PM this past Friday, having taken my last pill that morning. Whew, I made it, and just in time. I told the nurse what I had been taking, etc, and she made me do a drug test. Whatever, but it made me feel like I had done something wrong. At first I thought *he* thought I was there for a bladder infection, as that's the only time a Dr has ever asked for my urine. Then, before I even got to see the Dr,the nurse came back in and made me sign a contract to not get meds from anyone else, and if I didn't sign, Dr. would not give me anything for my pain. Great, I signed it. I really wanted to just walk out, especially after handing the Dr. the script written by surgeon that he wants me to have the injections/possible surgery, and the new Dr. says "I'll give you those injections, but you have to follow MY treatment plan, and it doesn't involve surgery." Can I just say "Arrrrrrrrggggh!! Does anyone know if I need to get a lawyer now to get out of that contract? Thank you for letting me vent. Posted on 09/06/09, 03:09 pm |
| 7 Replies | Add Your Advice |
| View More Posts Ignore |
|
|
|
|
||
| View More Posts Ignore |
Hun,
Most Pain Management Doctor's in the USA required their clients to go through the pee test and the contract.... Reason why.... First, there are so many people out there that go to pain clinic's and just want drugs to get high that they do it to cover their arses. Second, a lot of people will get those narcotic medications and sell them on the streets, is nothing against you, all or most of us in chronic or intractable pain have to go through the same thing, Pain Management Doctor's only treat pain, he said "sorry, no surgery, because he is not a surgeon!" He does pain pills and injections, NO surgery. That is the same with all of the PM Doc's. You don't mention where your herniated disc is located, but if is in the neck, lumbar or whatever, I will go get a third opinion from either a Neuro Surgeon or from an Orthopedic Surgeon that specializes in spines! You are going to need to keep your pain management Doctor so he can continue giving you medications and whatever treatment he thinks that will help you. Not everyone, all of the time is a candidate for surgery, and if you get your third opinion please, ask the surgeon WHY you are not a candidate for surgery, so that way you can understand the reasons why.... I have a good GF that has 3 herniated cervical disks, and two in her thoracic spine, and she is not a candidate for surgery! Surgery could actually hurt her more and live her paralyze, so knowing why you are not a candidate for surgery is an important thing. Maybe you are, who knows? But if two NS's have told you that you are not, there most be a reason behind it. If a Pain Management Doctor told you that you are not a candidate for surgery, he was wrong! He was wrong for telling you that! That would be like an electrician telling you that you don't need roof work, instead of a person that specializes in roof's telling you that! PM Doc's treat pain, they don't do surgeries. Go see an Ortho that specializes in spines like I mention before. Bring all of your records. (MRI's, CT's, Myelogram's, whatever you have), and get that 3rd opinion.............. but remember to ask why, is important to be an informed patient, and if we don't ask questions, most of the time, the Doctor's are so busy, that they won't remember to tell you. Another thing..... bring a list of questions that you want to ask your 3rd opinion Doctor, that way you won't forget at the moment of the appointment. As far as getting out of the contract, NO, you do not need a lawyer, but at this point, you need pain management; as long as you follow the directions that they gave you: take the meds as directed, always tell him if other Doctor gives you other type of medications, IE: GP gives you something for the sniffles, etc..... NEVER get a pain pill or anything like Valium, or muscle relaxers from other Doc's. you should be fine. Everywhere you go, most likely you are going to have to sign a contract, so if you liked this Doctor and the practice, stay there, if not go find another PM Doctor that can treat you, until you get a clear answer of why you are not a surgery candidate. Believe it or not, some of us have to spend the rest of our lives taking pain medications :-( some because they have incurable conditions, others because of failed surgeries, Fybromialgia, many, many reasons! We don't like it, but we have to do it to be able to "survive"........... :-( I hope that this clears things up for you.......... Take care and keep us posted. 
|
|
|
|
||
| View More Posts Ignore |
Thank you for taking time to write all that. I really appreciate it.
I knew I should have included more info in that first post, so just for the record, my first surgeon did tell me I should have surgery, but my brother called and told me to have the second epidural first, because his first one didn't take, either, but the second one worked like a charm. Two weeks from my surgery date, I called the surgeon and asked his opinion. He said "by all means, lets do the second epidural, and if that doesn't help, we'll go ahead and get you set up for surgery." After the 2nd epidural didn't work, I scheduled and appt. with the surgeon to put in a date for me, and that's when things got weird. There's more wiredness, but I won't go into that. Basically, now I have had two surgeons who have recommended I have surgery for a very bad disc herniation at L5-S1 with DDD. That was really awesome of you to explain all of that to me, and I apologize if I misled you by not being more thorough. Let me just say that it's whatever about the drug screens, just felt weird b/c I've never had one done before, but this new PM Dr is going to make me start all over again, and I'm exhausted both physically (I drive a standard), emotionally, and financially. My husband and I barely have enough to cover what surgery won't, so going through all this therapy again, if nothing works, I won't be able to afford the surgery. I hope I helped clear this up a bit. Sorry if I left anyone confused. Thanks again Tipper, for all your information. It did help. And thanks to gem for your support.
|
|
|
|
||
| View More Posts Ignore |
I never had to sign a contract or take a urine test. Maybe he has done something wrong in the past and has to cover his butt from now on?
|
|
|
|
||
| View More Posts Ignore |
Sorry for your situation. I can relate. I just had my 3rd round of injections, and it has been worse for the last week than it was before. I called the PM office and they called in tramadol (?) and it has made me sick. I have called 2 days in a row, and no one will return my call. He hasn't even worked on the problem with C3-C7, just L4-S1. I just feel like they could care a less about me. I am trying not to focus on the pain, but it has been almost unbearable the last 2 days. I have avoided surgery for 10 years for L4-S1, but now that I have both cervical & lumbar I may have to. Let me know how you are doing & which procedure they do.
|
|
|
|
||
| View More Posts Ignore |
All pain managment that I know of have these contarcts and everyone has to fill one out if you want to be seen by that Dr. and get pain meds. I signed one before. It wasnt a big deal. Some are bothered by it more than others but if your not doing anything wrong I dont see it to be a issue. just my opinion. These help the Dr. to be able to give you the pain med you need and enough of it by weeding out people who are addicts or who are abusing or not even taking there meds but maybe selling them. it just protects the Dr. from getting in trouble. Try not to take it personal. What they did by asking you for a urine tesy was completley normal and every one does it on their first visit and sometimes all through out or just once or twice. My Dr. ended up having me get my blood drawn for tests all the time and was sneaking in a VERY THROUGH drug test. I didnt even know he was doing that. He evn made me bring in my prescriptions if lets say it wasn't working and I wanted something different and he would count each one in front of me to make sure not a single one was missing and then kept the bottle! Sometimes they were full and I could have given back for a refund to the pharmacy! They cost be 90 dollars. I dont know about that one but its the price you pay for pain relief I guess. Good Luck.
|
|
|
|
||
| View More Posts Ignore |
Why would you want to get out of the contract? It is there to protect them from people who are merely seeking narcotic pain meds to abuse. The contracts are pretty standard with any pain management doc. So are the drug tests to make sure you are taking your meds and nothing else. I was in my pain management clinic when they were talking about an anonymous patient who was caught using cocaine along with his narcotic pain meds. I am glad they caught him and are dumping him. This gives the doc more time for people like me who actually need his help. If you ask me, the pain contract and the drug testing is a sign of a legitimate pain management practice. If you decide you want to pursue surgery at some point, then discuss with the doc why you feel you need to pursue that option. He was likely just trying to put you at ease about not making you go to such lengths to stay in treatment with him/her. That is how my pain doc is. He always try to put me at ease and let's me know that he will do whatever he can do to help me with my pain as I show absolutely no signs of addiction to my meds.
|
|
|
|
||
| Add Your Advice |
