|
Restriction of pain medication troubling
By Mary Stegman, MD
Published by news-press.com
Fort Myers, Florida
As a doctor who has specialized in internal medicine and
oncology - and
before becoming a physician, as a nurse in a burn unit - I
now practice
the medical management of pain. In all, I have spent more
than 20 years
caring for patients in pain. My average patient has chronic,
non-cancer<
pain and is working full-time with their pain managed with
opioid
medications.
I prescribe OxyContin, as well as other pain medications and
may be one of the biggest writers of opioid (narcotic) pain
medications in the country. That is a fact for which I am neither
proud nor ashamed. My patients are not drugged up addicts, but
rather people who work full-time as teachers, physicians, nurses,
executives, builders and business owners.
My patients are not lying on the couch collecting welfare,
but helping
you when you buy a car, shop at a 7-Eleven or build a new
home. Without
treatment, many would not only be non-productive but also
suicidal. Pain
medications allow them to have full and complete lives caring
for their
families and building our communities. In fact, many of these
same
patients would be on disability without access to their pain
medications.
However, today they live in fear of possible government regulations
that could prevent them access to their medications. Thus, I
read with some concern The News-Press coverage
of the recent congressional hearing in Winter Park on prescription
drug abuse ("Putting a face to drug deaths," Feb.
10.) Specifically, I did not see any comments in the article
from
patients themselves
We all desire to prevent the abuse of narcotic medications.
As a
physician, I check every patient for a criminal record. I
work closely
with local law enforcement. I maintain strict guidelines for
my patients
and mandate that they use one pharmacy. I also request of
my patients
that all controlled medications be kept in a safe and labels
destroyed
before discarding empty bottles.
I also support a statewide reporting system - such as can
be found in the state of Kentucky - that would enable us to
track all prescriptions obtained for controlled substances
and would aid greatly in diminishing the abuse of these controlled
medications.
I speak throughout the country to physicians on regulatory
issues surrounding controlled substances and I understand
the Kentucky system works well. I empathize with anyone who
has lost a loved one because of a drug overdose. I lost my
23-year-old son because of "drugs" and nothing is
more painful than losing a child.
However, the most important message is that we must differentiate
between appropriate drug use and drug abuse. More regulations
may limit access to patients who are functional only because
of their medications. My patients would give everything to
be cured of their pain, but until that is a medical reality,
we need to guarantee that they have the medications necessary
for an acceptable quality of life and productive careers.
Dr. Mary Stegman practices at Cypress Pain Management
in Fort Myers, Florida.
February 26, 2004
|
