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...
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beware of new drug "fentora"
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i was given a script for this drug by my pain clinic. they know i don't have much money and my B.cross of Idaho insurance doesn't cover anything here in Va. where we have to be for now because there are no jobs in Idaho, and the U.S.A. health care is in the toilet.
i had 4 cervical spine surgeries with my catastrophic $5000. deductible insurance and it still made us have to give up the idea of retirement. we got our dream house built, but those surgeries cost us, out of pocket close to $90,000. these drs. know this. this med, fedora cost $500 a week, ah, but they gave me a card that you swipe that refunds $100. i was with my husband, and we thought it was for a whole month!!!!!! we got it, but the $100 card would not work. after 4 phone calls ending with the company saying everything was straightened out now and to try it again, it did not work for 3 straight days, my husband had to take off work because the pharmacy was close to his job, and 1 hour from our house. on the way home i noticed it said it was for 1 week!!! in very small print. my husband went ballistic and i went monday morning to the pain clinic,(which expects you to pay $200 for an office visit). the receptionist told me that and i told her i just paid $500 for 1 week of breakthrough med. and i want to see a dr. right away, and i am not paying them anything. i waited an hour and got in to see a different dr. which meant i had to explain everything. i was so flustered and he obviously was too busy to deal with me. i told him the fentora didn't work very well. he quickly put the fentora in his white jacket pocket and wrote me a script of the same med. i take for normal pain, only in a 15 mg. form. he then shooed me out. i had no time to think. he had just put $500 worth of fentora in his pocket, which is part of the contract that you turn in the med. that doesn't work if you are given another. if i had time to think, i would of kept the med. and sent it back to the company demanding our $ back with photocopy's of everything, including the bogus card that would not swipe to give me a $100 refund. i have been looking everywhere in this area for another pain management dr or clinic, and in va. there are very few. i could not find one in our area except the one i go to..Chantilly Specialists. every Dr in Va. are closing their doors to chronic pain patients, for fear of narcotic prosecution. it is out of control, and every dr. i talked to while looking for a new dr said so. i will have to go to Maryland, which is more lenient in narcotic pain control. 1 1/2 hours away. my next normal monthly appt. with this awful clinic is Nov. 24th. what in the hell should i do? i would appreciate anyone's thoughts about how i should handle this situation. the way that dr. grabbed that $500 rx from me was so obvious!!!! i feel so stupid for not dealing with them better, but i can't think fast on my feet very well anymore. and they sure gave me very little time!! jayne Posted on 11/07/09, 01:11 pm |
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Ask them if they have any samples in their office. If they don't maybe they can get some from a doctor friend. Not for the narcotic drugs, but any drug that you may take. I would try to get my $500 back in services or other meds. I would also file a complaint against the company that gave you the problematic card. Either they send you a check for the money or another card that the pharmacists can charge. The only problem is that if it was a card that is supposed to be entered into the computer like an insurance card, you won't be able to get it now. The pharmacists won't be able to run the script again.
That's really the only thing I can advise. Doctors sometimes behave like they don't know the reality of the costs you incur to get treatment. If I get a med that doesn't work, and a doctor tries to switch me to a new one, I explain that I can't afford to get another one and if he can give me some samples before I commit the money to the new medication. Good luck! 
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IMO your situation sucks! And I am very sorry for it..... On your next appointment with your regular PM Doc, I will flat out ask him; "where did the $500.00 worth of Fentora that you gave his partner went to??", and what is the policy of his office when it comes to a script that you filled out and payed for and now is under siege by them??
The issues that all of us in CP suffer each and every single day because of the stigma that comes attached to narcotic medications is absolutely insane! I've never been to Virginia or lived there, but I could only imagine how bad the health care system is .... I live in the South and I know how much worst it is for us here to get a good Pain Management Doctor. I got lucky, but not everyone does! If you are very short on funds and are in chronic and/or intractable pain, you might want to talk to your PM to put you on a medication like Methadone. Methadone is very inexpensive and it works quite well for chronic pain. The same thing that is happening to you right now, happened to me..... My PM put me on Avinza and due to the infamous "donut hole" on Medicare, I was going to have to pay $375.00 out of pocket monthly for Avinza; I called the Doc immediately from the pharmacy and said to him; "Ney,Ney Fluffy!" I can not pay $375.00 monthly for Avinza while living on social security disability!!! He asked me to come back to the office and he worked with me. He gave me a script for Methadone, and have been on it for 2 years now, and it takes care of my pain, and I have not reached the "donut hole" ever since he put me on this medication. Talk to your Doc, let him know that you need a medication that YOU and YOUR hubby can afford, and one that will work for your pain. I wish you tons of luck, and hope that you will get the help that you need. Take care,
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I live in MD and see my PM doctor in Towson. I do not know how far away that is from you probably a good way. My doctor is really good at helping me relieve my pain. He worked months with me to get something that worked. There is no contracts to sign (yet), but he does make it very clear that if you loose your script or mes for any reason you are on your own. When I first went to him i had to go every month. Now I am up to every three months since I am stable.
My husband see's him too. We both have Lyme disease, mine they didn;t catch early enough and it makes my whole body hurt. It pains me to hear of stories like yours where you have to give up everything just to have your heatlh. It should not be so. I am so very sorry. If I can give you his name just PM me and I will. I do not know how long it is from where you are or even if he is acepting new patients but if you want the info I have it. I wish you much luck and will lift you up in prayer and I hope that things get better for you soon.
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Doctors are just as susceptible to all of the advertising of drugs as patients are if not more so and are more than willing to try the "latest and greatest" pain medication on you. They generally have absolutely no concept of cost and often no concept of the effectiveness; all they know is what they read in the company literature, which usually compares the new pain medication against a placebo (thus everything is better than nothing!). If something is new, they want to prescribe it. It could be they are getting bonuses for writing a certain number of prescriptions, lunch for the staff if they write XX scripts per week...or they've just bought into the "newer is better" message from BigPharma. All too often doctors seem to forget that these new medications may be no more effective than the old standbys of oxycodone or dilaudid, which are infinitely less expensive and much more well known and well tested. They just go for new and flashy.
One way to get around this may be to ask the doctor for a printout of the prescribing information for the new medication so you can read it for yourself in the office before you leave. This way you know what you're getting, hopefully how it compares to other medications and you'll be able to tel if it's new (and thus know up front that the cost will be outrageous). And thus you can have a discussion with your doctor then and there about why drug A over drug B...especially if drug B has been working just fine and you have no reason to change. My philosophy is to just say no to the new medications, especially when there is no reason to change, and stick with those I already know work and have been on the market for years. This holds not just for pain medications but across the board. Unless there is some incredible overriding reason to take something that's new on the market (and I've yet to come across such a reason), I try to follow the Public Citizen's Worst Pills, Best Pills rule of waiting at least 7 years before taking something "new). Most recalls and major labeling changes on medication occur in the first 7 years; I'm just not into being a guinea pig for the pharmaceutical industry for those first 7 years. Just a thought.
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Cheap opioid drugs:
Oramorph, 12-hr morphine MS Contin (morphine) Hydrocodone Oxycodone Methadone Dilaudid (Hydromorphone HCl) Expensive opioids: Fentanyl (Actiq, Fentora, Duragesic) Opana ER (Oxymorphone HCl) Avinza, 24-hr morphine Kadian, (morphine)
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Jayne,
I did a Google search on Fentora, and it seems that it was manufactured as a break through pain medication for cancer patients only, or at least, that is what the pharmaceutical company talks about on their site. I also noticed that is a pill that you do not swallow. You are supposed to put it in between the cheek and the gum and let it dissolve. Another thing that I learned on their site is that this is a Fentanyl product, and as far as I know (will someone correct me if I am wrong), Fentanyl was only offered on patch form until now, so maybe that is why is so expensive. Take care,
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thank you everyone for taking the time to give me your thoughts on these awful drs.
you have given me a starting point to start making a plan thanks again, jayne
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jayne, I am so sorry you are going through this. I would agree that you need to ask one of the other doctors in the practice "what happened" to the $500.00 worth of meds you handed to that doctor. Is there a protocol in place? Are you allowed to have a receipt? Do they PAY you for the meds left over? WHAT do they do with the other meds that patients "give" them? My guess is, someone is either getting high, or getting rich.
I certainly would NOT say that to your doctor when you see him. Act innocent when you ask, "Where does that medicine go? Can I get a refund?" YET AN OTHER example of WHY we need Health Care Reform in this country, and why we need it NOW!!!! I hope you can get things worked out, jayne. My prayers are with you.
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thank you P-Gel.
i will definably put that on my list of questions. i think the contract says that in order to get a different RX, you must give them back the old RX, and they are suppose to flush it. if i was in my right mind, and not so rushed and totally disoriented after being screwed out of $500, i should of made him,flush it in my presence. but he was in such a hurry he would of said, i don't have time for that now. i turned in a week of $500 fentora for a rx for 15 Mg of the same med that is my main pain med. $5. oxycodone Hcl. GEEZZZ!!!! i have an e mail address for the pres./ attorney of this inc., and i am going to have my husband help me write an e-mail to him about this whole situation. i don't know if he will get it, but it is worth try to tell him what his drs. and P.A.'s are doing. thanks again jayne
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