|
Pain, and why you should
"not"
have to suffer in California.
By: Mark Norwood. Head Nurse &
CEO:
MED-HELP.COM & MED-HELP.NET
In my own experiences as a patient and a nurse, I have found that
too many States do not allow the use of narcotic analgesics as
treatment for patients with chronic intractable pain.
Patients all over the US are suffering needlessly from doctors
who are too scared to prescribe narcotic pain medication for fear of
having their license revoked. Other doctors are just not properly
trained in how to treat patients with the use of narcotic analgesics.
Their are also those doctors from poor or third world countries who do
not believe in treating patients adequately for pain. They usually
come from a back grown where (in their own culture) pain is something
that you just have to get used too and learn to live with. This is a
Travesty!
Treatment of patients in severe or chronic pain with the use of
narcotic analgesics is not only safer today with the new "hi
tech" long acting narcotics, it is also more practical. Patients
are far less likely to overdose with these new classes of long acting
narcotics than 10 years ago when repeated dosing of short acting
narcotics was the routine of the time.
I myself am tired of hearing patients tell me that their doctor
has told them that they are just going to have to learn to live with
the pain, (or) go in to some type of pain program. Pain
Programs/Clinics Do Not use narcotic therapy as a part of their
treatment plan and the worst thing is that referring doctors know
this!! The use of narcotics as a part of there therapy is forbidden
and other ways of controlling pain such as mind over matter as an
example are the routine of choice. You can not take a patient in
severe chronic intractable pain and try and tell them that they can
out think it! To those doctors that use this approach I say, cut off
your right finger, or better yet go out and get hit by a truck and
then come back and try one of these therapies! Only then will they
understand.
And to those doctors that say you are a drug seeking patient, Or
he has a drug seeking personality, I say to you YES I am seeking drugs
for my pain! What am I supposed to do, act like I do not really need
them?
What doctors have to understand is that patients who are labeled
drug seeking are just that! They are seeking to get out of pain.
Studies have shown that patients suffer from chronic intractable pain,
are not the typical drug addict looking for a fix! Rather they are
looking for relief and to just live a normal life with some type of control
over their pain.
And those doctors who do give out lets say 25 (or) 50 pills a
month and have a patient sign a drug contract I say ("it just
does not work that way")
If a patient is in more pain on a certain day he/she is going to need
more pain medication to make it through that day. Before the patient
knows it he has used up his supply, And all he gets for his/her
trouble is a lecture from the doctor. PAIN CONTRACTS DO NOT WORK!!
Better yet put your patient on a longer lasting pain medication
like Oxycontin or a narcotic patch like Fentanyl, and give your
patient a supply of short acting pain medication for break through
pain. This will not only make the patient more comfortable but less likely
to ride the roller coaster of ups and downs that short acting pain
medications can cause.
California NOW is one of the most recent states for adopting a
law to treat patients with chronic intractable pain. The law states
that doctors will not be prosecuted for treating their patients with
opiate pain medications. Patients also have the right to Not under go corrective
surgery (if available) to treat the patients pain, and remain on
narcotic pain management if it is their wish to do so.
Doctors here in California NO longer have to fear of loosing
their license to treat such patients, And No longer have an excuse for
Not treating their pain patients accordingly and humanely with opiate
agonists.
Please read the SB 402 The California Pain
Patient's Bill of Rights below and show it to your doctor or congressman
to get the relief that is constitutionally yours.
As of January 1/
1998 SB 402 takes effect.
WHAT THIS MEANS IS DOCTORS SHOULD NOT HAVE
ANY MORE PROBLEMS WITH THE- STATE, IN BEING ABLE TO WRITE
PRESCRIPTIONS FOR NARCOTIC PAIN DRUGS- OR TRIPLICATE
NARCOTIC PAIN MEDICINE. NO MORE EXCUSES!!
CHRONIC PAIN SUFFERERS SHOULD NOT HAVE TO
SUFFER ANYMORE!!!!
Excerpt from Health: opiate drugs text...
Existing law, the Intractable
Pain Treatment Act, authorizes a physician and surgeon to prescribe or
administer controlled substances to a person in the course of treating
that person for a diagnosed condition called intractable pain, and
prohibits the Medical Board of California from disciplining a
physician and surgeon for this action. This bill would establish the
Pain Patient's Bill of Rights and would state
legislative findings and declarations regarding the value of opiate
drugs to persons suffering from severe chronic intractable pain.
| SB 402
California Senate
Bill No. 402
CHAPTER 839
An act to add Part 4.5 (commencing with Section
-124960) to
Division 106 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to
health.
[Approved by Governor October 9, 1997. Filed
with Secretary of State October 10, 1997.]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SE 402, Greene. Health: opiate drugs.
Existing law, the Intractable Pain Treatment Act,
authorizes a
physician and surgeon to prescribe or administer controlled
substances to a person in the course of treating that
person for a
diagnosed condition called intractable pain, and prohibits
the
Medical Board of California from disciplining a physician
and
surgeon for this action.
This bill would establish the Pain Patient's Bill of Rights
and would
state legislative findings and declarations regarding the
value of
opiate drugs to persons suffering from severe chronic
intractable
pain. It would, among other things, authorize a physician
to refuse to prescribe opiate
medication for a patient who requests the treatment
for severe chronic intractable pain, require the physician
to inform
the, patient that there are physicians who specialize in
the treatment
of severe chronic intractable pain with methods that
include the use
of opiates, and authorize a physician who prescribes
opiates to
prescribe a dosage deemed medically necessary.
The people of the State of California do
enact as follows:
SECTION 1. Part 4.5 (commencing
with Section 124960) is added
to Division 106 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
PART 4.5.
PAIN PATIENT'S BILL OF RIGHTS
124960. The Legislature finds and
declares all of the following:
(a) The state has a right and duty to control the illegal
use of opiate
drugsˇ.
(b) Inadequate treatment of acute and chronic pain
originating
from cancer or non cancerous conditions is a significant
health
problem.
(c) For some patients, pain management is the single most
important treatment a physician can provide.
(d) A patient suffering from severe chronic intractable
pain
should have access to proper treatment of his or her pain.
|
Ch. 839
-2-
(e) Due to the complexity of their
problems, many patients
suffering from severe chronic intractable pain may require referral
to a physician with expertise in the treatment of severe
chronic
intractable pain. In some cases, severe chronic intractable pain
is best
treated by a team of clinicians in order to address the associated
physical, psychological, social, and vocational issues.
(f) In the hands of knowledgeable, ethical, and experience
pain
management practitioners, opiates administered for sever acute
and severe chronic intractable pain can be safe.
(g) Opiates can be an accepted treatment for patients in
severe
chronic intractable pain who have not obtained relief from any
other
means of treatment.
(h) A patient suffering from severe chronic intractable
pain has
the option to request or reject the use of any or all modalities
to
relieve his or her severe chronic intractable pain.
(i) A physician treating a patient who suffers from severe
chronic
intractable pain may prescribe a dosage deemed medically
necessary
to relieve severe chronic intractable pain as long as the prescribing
is in conformance with the provisions of the California Intractable
Pain Treatment Act, Section 2241.5 of the Business and Professions
Code.
j) A patient who suffers from severe chronic intractable
pain has
the option to choose opiate medication for the treatment of
the
severe chronic intractable pain as long as the prescribing is
in
conformance with the provisions of the. California Intractable
Treatment Act, Section 2241.5 of the Business and Professions
code
(k) The patient's physician may refuse to prescribe
opiate
medication for a patient who requests the treatment for severe
chronic intractable pain. However, that physician shall inform
the
patient that there are physicians who specialize in the treatment
of
severe chronic intractable pain with methods that include the
use of
opiates.
124961. Nothing in this section shall be construed to
alter any of
the provisions set forth in the California Intractable Pain Treatment
Act, Section 2241.5 of the Business and Professions Code. This
section
shall be known as the Pain Patient's Bill of Rights.
(a) A patient suffering from severe chronic intractable
pain has
the option to request or reject the use of any or all
modalities in order
to relieve his or her severe chronic intractable pain.
(b) A patient who suffers from severe chronic
intractable pain has
the option to choose opiate medications to relieve severe
chronic
intractable pain without first having to submit to an invasive
medical
procedure, which is defined as surgery, destruction of a nerve
or other
other body tissue by manipulation, or the implantation of a
drug
delivery system or device, as long as the prescribing physician
acts
in conformance with the provisions of the California Intractable
Pain
Treatment Act, Section 2241.5 of the Business and Professions
Code.
|
-3-
Ch. 839
(c) The patient's physician may
refuse to prescribe opiate
medication for the patient who requests a treatment for
severe
chronic intractable pain. However, that physician shall
inform the
patient that there are physicians who specialize in the
treatment of
severe chronic intractable pain with methods that include
the use of
opiates.
(d) A physician who uses opiate therapy to relieve
severe chronic
intractable pain may prescribe a dosage deemed medically
necessary
to relieve severe chronic intractable pain, as long as that
prescribing
is in conformance with the California Intractable Pain
Treatment
Act, Section 2241.5 of the Business and Professions Code.
(e) A patient may voluntarily request that his or her
physician
provide an identifying notice of the prescription for
purposes of
emergency treatment or law enforcement identification.
(f) Nothing in this section shall do either of the
following:
(1) Limit any reporting or disciplinary provisions
applicable to
licensed physicians and surgeons who violate prescribing
practices or
other provisions set forth in the Medical Practice Act,
Chapter 5
(commencing with Section 2000) of Division 2 of the
Business and
Professions Code, or the regulations adopted there under.
(2) Limit the applicability of any federal statute or
federal
regulation or any of the other statutes or regulations of
this state that
regulate dangerous drugs or controlled substances.
|
.
|
Previous (or) Old
Bill
SB 1802
Senate Bill No. 1802
CHAPTER 1588
An act to add Section 2241.5 to the
Business and Professions Code,
relating to physicians and surgeons.
[Approved by Governor
September 30. 1990. Filed with
Secretary of State September 30, 1990.]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SE 1802, L. Greene. Physicians and surgeons.
Existing law makes it unprofessional conduct and
grounds for
disciplinary action for a physician and surgeon to perform
repeated
acts of clearly excessive prescribing, furnishing, or
administering of
drugs or treatment, as specified.
This bill would authorize a physician and surgeon to
prescribe or
administer controlled substances to a person in the course
of
treatment of that person for a diagnosed condition causing
intractable pain, as defined, and would prohibit the
Medical Board
of California from disciplining a physician and surgeon for
that
prescribing or administering.
The people of the State of California do
enact as follows:
SE(-=IION 1. Section 2241.5 is
added to the Business and
Professions Code, to read:
2241.5. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, a
physician and surgeon may prescribe: or administer
controlled
substances to a person in the course of the physician and
surgeon's
treatment of that person for a diagnosed condition causing
intractable pain.
(b) "Intractable pain," as used in this
section, means a pain state
in which the cause of the pain cannot be removed or
otherwise
treated and which in the generally accepted course of
medical
practice no relief or cure of the cause of the pain is
possible or none
has been found after reasonable efforts including, but not
limited to,
evaluation by the attending physician and surgeon and one
or more
physicians and surgeons specializing in the treatment of
the area,
system, or organ of the body perceived as the source of the
pain.
(c) No physician and surgeon shall be subject to
disciplinary
action by the board for prescribing or administering
controlled
substances in the course of treatment of a person for
intractable pain.
(d) This section shall not apply to those persons
being treated by
the physician and surgeon for chemical dependency because
of their
use of drugs or controlled substances.
(e) This section shall not authorize a physician and
surgeon to
prescribe or administer controlled substances to a person
the
93 60
|
Ch. 1588
-2-
physician and surgeon knows to be using
drugs or substances for
nontherapeutic purposes.
(f) This section shall not affect the power of the
board to deny,
revoke, or suspend the license of any physician and surgeon
who does
any of the following:
(1) Prescribes or administers a controlled substance
or treatment
that is nontherapeutic in nature or nontherapeutic in the
manner the
controlled substance or treatment is administered or
prescribed or
is for a nontherapeutic purpose in a nontherapeutic manner.
(2) Fails to keep complete and accurate records of
purchases and
disposals of substances listed in the California Controlled
Substances
Act, or of controlled substances scheduled in, or pursuant
to, the
federal Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act
of
1970. A physician and surgeon shall keep records of his or
her
purchases and disposals of these drugs, including the date
of
purchase, the date and records of the sale or disposal of
the drugs by
the physician and surgeon, the name and address of the
person
receiving the drugs, and the reason for the disposal of or
the
dispensing of the drugs to the person and shall otherwise
comply
with all state record keeping requirements for controlled
substances.
(3) Writes false or fictitious prescriptions for
controlled
substances listed in the California Controlled Substances
Act or
scheduled in the federal Comprehensive Drug Abuse
Prevention
and Control Act of 1970.
(4) Prescribes, administers, or dispenses in a manner
not
consistent with public health and welfare controlled
substances
listed in the California Controlled Substance Act or
scheduled in the
federal Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act
of
1970.
(5) Prescribes, administers, or dispenses in
violation of either
Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 11150) or Chapter 5
(commencing with Section 11210) of Division 10 of the Health. and
Safety Code or this chapter.
(g) This section shall not apply to treatment of any
person in a
health facility, as defined in Section' 12;50 of the Health
and Safety
Code.
SEC. 2. This act shall be known and cited as the
Intractable Pain
Treatment Act.
9380
END
|
.
|
