TPC YaYa and Terri thank you for your replies. Terri, the short answer is in the State of Ohio, ‘No.’ the ‘Guidelines’ (and they are only guidelines) set forth by the Governor’s Cabinet Opiate Action Team have set reasonable-i think-amounts for Chronic Pain Relief but i have found out that there’s an insidious gov’t control happening that comes from neither a Counsel, Actions Team or Regulatory Board.
long part-while speaking to, once again, another Pain Management Dr. about why he wouldn’t prescribe me the proper medications and being persistent about it he said “Look, listen. I can prescribe as much or as little opioid pain medication as I want. It’s just that the government (he didn’t state which office or entity) can look at my prescribing records and if it wants to it can make it impossible for me to get insurance.” i was astounded! i said that i didn’t think the Ohio Dept of Ins covered medical insurance and he said “No but they communicate with companies that do.” this PM Dr went on to say that there’s also no quantity of prescriptions that is considered ‘right or wrong’ but when the insurance company reviews your files it is an ‘activist but antiquated’ view. they search for an unquantified number of opioid prescriptions (activist side) but when they ask whom they are for they look for xrays, mri’s and scans showing breaks, tears, visible nerve damage while things like neuralgias and such are met with near derision (the antiquated side). so he chooses to treat neuralgias with injections and the such which have proven time and again ineffective for me.
that conversation showed me a glimmer of light as to why i CANNOT get the proper prescriptions for my PHN/TN. and when i looked further into it i was astounded that the scare tactics are based on Guidelines not legislated laws or regulations. now i understand the Drs’s stance on not prescribing so my frustration has turned from the Drs to the political machine-Mike DeWine-that is doing this to drive his own agenda for election as the ‘opioid’ crisis is such a hot button right now….and the media that drives it (Ohio is basically a Republican State and Mike DeWine touts himself a Republican when it suits his purposes so the media falls in line.)
so there’s the long answer as to why i cannot get the proper medications for pain relief. my PCP found 1 last PM Clinic that may help me but this would be the 3rd this year he gave a referral to and they count referrals given so he warned i may be put off as a ‘Dr. Shopper’ even with his referral. fingers crossed!
