Wow. I admit, I haven't been to a pain clinic in years (my choice). And I kind of understand they want to prevent drug abuse and that way they know exactly what you are taking and can keep you from taking things that might interact w/negative side effects. Plus it would aid them in more careful monitoring of their patients. IF that's their intent.

I'd want to know if they practice one size fits all medicine or do they customize for each individual.

I also wonder if this just isn't a CYA situation b/c they are afraid of being sued and/or prosecuted by the govt for handing out too many drugs.

I'm what you would consider a major skeptic and I always question the status quo, much to the chagrin of many others. So personally, I would ask for a consultation with the doctor to discuss before I signed. I'd have lots of "what if" questions for him.

But, that's just me & MHO. Gentle Hugs.

It's a sign of the times we live in unfortunately. We get tarred with the same brush as people who do all the things that you have written above.
At one time there was a lot of people over dosing on paracetamol as they didn't realise that most cold/cough preparations contain a percentage of that med and was taking more on top!! Over here, paracetamol can only be bought in small quantities over the counter. If we want a bigger pack you have to go to a pharmacy and the assistants there give you the third degree! We know it ain't good to mix certain meds, but other people, especially addicted people will mix any type of drug to get the fix that they need. It does indeed seem harsh to be treated like that, but the practise have most probably had problems before. Try not to take it personally BB, hugs Owlxx

I completley understand why they have to write all that stuff because of people who abuse there medication. On the other hand I am going through alot of problems right now with my doctor not giving me the medication i need to relieve my pain because he doesn't want to give me a narcotic. I just feel like I know there are liars and abusers out there but it is so unfair to me someone in serious pain to have to suffer because of it. I feel like there should be certain guidelines that can control drug addicts but help people who need strong pain medicine.

i would be offended also.. but i can also understand y they would have patients sign it.. i guess its one of those things that u just have to do what u feel is right...**hugs**

I wouldn't have signed it. Pain mgt can only give you certain meds , rheumatology doctors can only give you only certain meds, your psychology doctor can prescibe certain meds. So, my question to this form, Is what do they mean by all that? That pratice is wrong. I would try to find another pm doctor or talk to that doctor about what he prescibes to help you.

I am thinking they are having problems with patients that are misusing their pain medications and are:
1. using different pharmacies so they cannot trace how many times pain med's are being refilled.
2.some patients are taking pain meds more than what the dr. is prescribing them, thus running out.
3. patient is lieing about loosing their medication. I lost it, car ran over it, someone stole it, etc.etc.
Then when someone who Really comes in and tells the truth how can they tell? They don't REALLY know you, now do they? Only when they see you montly or every 2 or 3 months. They have so many patients, we know them but all they know us by is our charts.
4.Not receiving from another dr.yes, I can understand that. and over the counter, might be some of the pain medication that you are taking could counteract with over the counter medication.
5.Not coming in to get pain medication refilled. Some patients have misused the system and have made a scene, and have had to be excorted off the property. Maybe using painkillers more than necessary and have gotten addicted, that is the reasons for numbers l, 2,3, and 4.


No, I would not be offended in the least. I would figure that some person or persons had misused the system and have made it rough on the rest of us and that it is the sign of the times. We have to sign the paper and go by the rules. It use to not be this way, but it is now. I use to take it personally when all these forms first started happening, but now I don't. People will just try anything these days and you and I suffer the consequences.

I WONDER IF THIS IS EVEN LEGAL...DO WE HAVE ANY RIGHTS ANYMORE? I THIK WE NEED TO DO SOME RESEARCH.....I'LL TRY BUT CAN'T PROMISE ANYTHING....LOVE...HELEN---

I do get why it was written up and put into place. What bothers me is that nowadays, we all fall into the possible drug seeking addict. As far as the addict part goes, we all probably have this image in our heads of what an addict is like right? Well what gets me is that most pain meds are addictive. Does that make us addicts? I dont like the conotation. I am flustered by the whole thing. Im not angry at my doc. The lady at the front desk told me that he fought it for months and did not want to have his patients sign anything like it. She also said that it wasnt arbitrary, there were so many incidents that they finally just put it into writing. I guess my what my problem is is that its almost like having a stigma..you know? I dont know... I guess I just dont want to be seen that way.

I had to sign one of these when I saw my pain management doctor. It mainly applied to those taking the opium meds. What he gave me was not neccessarily the hard core drugs but this form keeps them from doing so much. What is happening some many individuals are doctor hopping for meds. So they are trying to stop it. My added that if I violated any of the rules then the doctor-patient relationship would be terminated. I signed it and was not offended because I knew that I was not doctor hopping for pain meds but to find a doctor who could treat me and help me with the fibro and CFS. I rec'd great treatment from the dr and he really listened to me. I even found out new things that were wrong that even my rheum had not told me....

Sounds like two things to me. First, they want to protect themselves from malpractice suits in case some one overdoses on pain meds. Secondly, the government does audit pain prescriptions that are prescribed. A doctor can get into trouble if the government thinks they are prescribing too much, or too many pain meds for a given patient. I would much rather see doctors fight for their patients then have them sign this type of release, however, I think it is intended for those who do abuse their meds. And, we all know there are some out there. I think our fear is that doctors do not fully understand our pain, and will limit our pain medications because they think we are whiners. Valid concern for Fibro sufferers. Prayers and hugs

bb, don't be offended. We live in a letigious society and the doctor's practice is just covering their backs against drug addicts demanding more meds than they are entitled to.

I wouldn't worry. All that is just legal jargen that covers their butts if someone tries to use them for they own drug addiction. It also sounds like they ARE going to give you pain meds and they want to make sure that you don't become addicted. Most fibro peoples don't get addicted because we only take it when we can't take the pain. I hope that makes sense. I jsut woke up and I'm starting to realize that my fingers are doing the thinking at a different pace than my brain, lol!

jeez, i guess i am the only ex-junkie here. i know lots of people who would try and fake illness to get pain meds from docs. lots that got away with it too. so i know exactly why they have people sign that paper. script cons are really big in oklahoma. i know even of a few docs that were "chased out of town" so to speak because they were busted giving out meds to people who were just using them to sell. these people would make lots of money off of less industrious junkies. they do need people to sign those papers unfortunately. i have old friends give me the speech all the time, about how "i GET to take methadone everyday." they are junkies struggling with thier own addictions and think i hit the jackpot or something. it makes me so mad. i didn't use to judge them so harshly but now i want to yell at them. "Don't you know how lucky you are not to need these drugs?!?" i would trade places with them in a second! even when i used to use pain meds illigelly, i was always cautious. i just used enough to keep me from feeling bad. i think i had been "self-medicating' for years before i ever had a diagnosis. of course, there were times when i used out of pure emotional turmoil too. i don't want to give the impression that i was a saintly junkie or something. i know that papers like this one, for all of you who have never had any previous experience with being looked at or percieved as a drug addict, must be humiliationg. it is even more so for me, who had stood out in my community of drug users as an example for so many years. i was a person to be looked up to for getting clean and staying clean. now i am questioned at every turn. even more so than a normal fibro patient. and that is hard enough. my doc had me sign the same thing. knowing people personally who had tried to use him for unethical scripts helped me understand why he had me sign it in the first place. just keep in mind that when you are reeling at the thought of being judged as a junkie, that there are people out there like me. i worked hard and i didn't steal. i had a disease that i didn't even know exsisted. alot of drug addicts are self medicating. they have a mental issue or physical pain that they treat themselves probably because they were turned away by a doctor who thought that they were just junkie scum. and there are the other types too. i always keep in mind that a drug can't turn you into a monster if you are not already a monster somewhere inside of you. it can only bring out what is already there. i think people should be allowed to make decisions for themselves about what they put into thier bodies. the parts that were the worst parts for me during my junkie days, were all the creepy places and people i experienced having to get drugs off of the street and paying the inflated prices that people would charge for pills that cost them pennies. sometimes all i wanted was a vicodin, and all i could find was heroin. alcohol and tobacco do more damage to your body than any opiate drugs. junkies are just like people in general. some are good hearted, some are mean and evil. we all pay the price for others evil actions in our everyday lives. this paper, sadly, is just another example of a society that bases its rules by the worst of us, instead of the best of us.

IF YOU REFUSE, THEY WON'T TAKE YOU AS A PATIENT......DANG GOV.....

Any time people make rules like this that means someone stupid abused their meds!!!!!!!!! So for those of us who are not stupid we suffer because of the stupid ones!!! So don't be offended by this because it wasn't because of you that they made these rules.

:)