What are the Pain Management Laws in Your State? Have they made your life more difficult?

General
1

Changes in the Virginia state laws that govern the prescribing of opiates in chronic pain management have definitely made my life more difficult and caused tensions between myself and more than one of my physicians over the past few years. One physician who had prescribed hydrocodone for me for years, suddenly became very stingy with the medication. I asked him why he was treating me like a drug abuser and his reply was because the state was treating him like a potential drug dealer. Getting the medication has become sooo much more complicated.

In another discussion someone mentioned the new pain management laws in Florida. I could not resist looking them up.

http://thehealthlawfirmblog.wordpress.com/2011/12/21/recent-changes-to-floridas-pain-management-laws/

Then I looked at the laws in several other states including the one in which I live. I found some interesting reports about how the new laws are having such a negative impact on people like me - who have been prescribed opiate pain medication for years. This one is about the nanitaew laws in Washington State.

http://www.kuow.org/program.php?id=23774

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2016035307_pain28m.htm

I remembered the sensational story of the Virginia physician who was convicted of being a drug dealer.

http://crime.about.com/od/drugwar/a/dea050420.htmanita1

What the pain management laws where you live? Have they changed recently? Have the changes made you life more difficult? Have any physicians been convicted of drug trafficking?

2

I'm in Canada, so you probably don't want to hear about it, but our laws were dramatically changed on Feb. 29, causing many suicides and robberies of pain patients homes.

3

Here's the link to my discussion about Canadian pain laws that just started 1 month ago. It is Nation wide. http://forum.lifewithlupus.org/forum/topics/new-canadian-pain-drug-laws-will-you-be-affected

4

do you go to uva ?

5

Ann A,

My Dr does let me have pain meds because my heart has stopped from my pain, so it's to keep me alive. I think I was talking about Canada's new pain law, just 1 month old, and how it will impact so many lives, especially if doctors start taking long term pain patients OFF their meds. I'm sure sorry for the hassle YOU have to go through! Yes, lupus has caused me to have 18 surgeries too. Yes, our costs of meds are much lower than USA. Thanks for sharing all that you did.

kind regards, Sheila