Contracts with pain management

[Hope38]

I need to find a new pm.......but I'm not sure how to go about this, my insurance gave me a list of three others in my area.

Since you signe a contract can you just make an appt with another pain management Dr or do you have to fire your first one?

The one I have now cancells all the time and leaves you without your pain meds for days at a time and then when you do get in to see him most of the time he doesn't have your file.  He travels to different offices, so if he doesn't grab your file at his main office he has nothing to go by.  He even argued with me one time that he NEVER gave me Vicodin ES 2x's a day.....(no file) he brought up his trusty little computer to "prove ME wrong" and then had to eat crow!

I want to do this the right way.  I tried to make an appt with my regular dr today but the earliest appt the receptionist would give me is the 26th!  I wanted to discuss the other Dr with him but thats to near the end of the month and I cannot wait that long to have a solution.

Sadly the vicodin is the only thing ive tried that allows me to be human.  I just don't want to make any mistakes.  Any ideas would be so helpful at this point.

I did call the old PM and left a message for the nurse.......told her he normally gives me at least a month supply and I noticed that he gave me the 3 a day but just for 15 days.....so Im confused.
We had a death in the family on Thursday and alot of out of state relatives are in, so I finally was able to make time this am to call over there.

Pray for me, this has been a bad week and the family issues are making everything worse.

[Ghilly]

The only thing you can do is hop on the phone and call everyone within driving distance and see if you can find someone who will take you without having to go through the nurse screening thing first.  I've never heard of such a thing.  I would hope that the doctor would know more than the nurse does when it comes to pain, and it would be the doctor who makes the decisions as to who is within his scope of experience to treat.  I have found, however, that quite a few doctors have their wives working in their offices, either as nurses or as office administrators, so maybe this is the case with this one and that's why she has so much authority there?  

What part of the country do you live in?  I might be able to get you the names of some pain management doctors in your area from people in my support group.  PM me if you don't want to post it on the board and let me know.  I'll see if I can't at least get you some names to start with.

Ghilly

[sandee1818]

So call around there are some who will take you without being accepte first but you need your records , you can get a copy fyourself but will have to pay ,

[Hope38]

I called the new PM yesterday........ah Im starting to worrying about these Drs.  The receptionist told me to have all my records faxed over and then the NURSE will go over the infomation and SHE will decide if the Drs there can help me!

When did these nurses get so much power?  Its so hard to get passed the receptionist and the nurse to get in to see a Dr anymore.  Shouldn't the DR be deciding this?

The receptionist said if the nurse feels they can help you she will call you back and set up an appt..........if not I won't hear anything!

I have no idea what to do next...........and I called over to my GP, and they told me they were going to call me, they have to reschedule my appt there, now I don't get in until the 3rd of April.

[Hope38]

The nurse kept telling me you need to speak directly to the Dr so he can tell you what he's doing.  She called me back 3x's (once even to verify my phone #) I swear SHE is losing it too!  He doesn't have the guts to call his patients back, he told her what to tell me.  How can I ask her questions like I would have been able to with him.

I know one patient of his was so upset with him.  THe Dr had him on Tramadol and he gave him a 2 month script......he had a question and he called the Dr.....the guy said the Dr went off on him!  Told him your not allowed to call me!  Any problems you have or questions should be held off until you see me on your next visit.

I'm calling the other PM today now that I have some information to go off of.......I just didn't know how to approach it.  I don't want to come off as a drug seeker, this Dr even IF he was still giving me my meds scares me......he never knew who I was or what I was on.

Wish me luck!

[Ghilly]

Wow, Hope, this guy sounds like a total loser!  I agree with you, it sounds like he's taking the meds himself!  What a flake!

I would tell the new doctor the whole story, and be absolutely truthful with him (or his office) when you make the appointment.  However, now that you have said that the day supply that he gave you was your last prescription, I would tell the new doctor's office that as well.  Let them know that it was the nurse who told you that the prescription was only for 45 pills because he was weaning you off them, that the doctor himself didn't even discuss this with you!  I can't believe that he did that!  

I hate to say this, but even if you do have to go through withdrawals for a few days until you get in with a new doctor, it might be worth it to get away from this major crackpot!  Find a new doc and get an appointment ASAP!  In the meantime, a suggestion - perhaps you can drastically cut down on how many pills a day you take until you get the appointment with the new doc?    Maybe just take enough to keep you from getting sick.  You might have to tolerate a bit more pain than usual, but as long as you keep enough in your system to keep you out of withdrawal try to tolerate it until you get in to see the new guy.  He'll give you a prescription on your first visit, so it shouldn't be that long of a time that you have to do this.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you that you find someone and get an appointment quickly.  

Another thought - since this guy is as bad as he is, my guess is that you're not going to be the only patient of his to show up on the doorstep of another PM doctor, and his reputation will probably already be known by the new doctor.  That will probably work in your favor when it comes to getting an appointment quickly.

Ghilly

[Hope38]

Thank you so much for all of your information.

Do I have to let the new PM place that I call to make an appt with about my current PM Dr?  I'm wondering if they will want me to sign a medical release form so they can get the information from this PM.  

I'm not sure how to deal with the new PM......do I tell him I have been on the Vicodin ES?  And who had written the script for it.

Also, the nurse did inform me the reason he only gave me the 45 pills for 15 days is due to the fact that he is weaning me off of them.......how this is weaning I'm not sure, but I know this is my last script for it......

My last appt which he cancelled on the first put me into withdrawls for 5 days........if I have to go thru that again I will, I don't trust this PM dr one bit.  I think he takes the meds himself!

[Ghilly]

OK, first things first.  Even though you are under contract with this doctor (who, by the way, sounds like somewhat of a quack), you are not breaking any rules by looking for another doctor before you tell the old one you are leaving him.  Chances are you are not going to get an appointment with a new doctor any sooner than 6 weeks away, and you don't want to quit your old doc with a 30 day supply of meds and still have 6 weeks to go before you see the new one.  You will only be in violation of your contract if you actually see another doctor and get a prescription without officially leaving your old doctor.  Until you actually go to the new doctor, you're doing nothing wrong by making an appointment with a new doctor.

Then I would contact your regular doctor and tell the receptionist that this is an EMERGENCY, that he messed up on your prescription and gave you a short one.  If necessary, have your pharmacist fax the doctor's office proof that the prescription was only for 15 days.  Tell the doctor's office that you MUST get in there before the 26th, because if you don't, you will go into withdrawals due to the doctor's mistake, and that if that happens, you will be reporting him to the AMA for causing you to go into withdrawals due to his own negligence.  Mention how you think they also might find it interesting that he doesn't remember from one visit to the next what he has prescribed for you, how he cancels appointments often, and how he conducts visits with his patients without having their files in his possession.  

Depending on how far off your appointment is with the new doctor, you might not be able to tell your old one about it just yet.  Just get in there and get a prescription refill for 30 days, and if the new appointment is sooner than 30 days off, tell him you are not going to be back.  If it's longer than 30 days away, make an appointment to go back when you normally would for your refill, and then tell him that you're leaving.  Whatever you do, don't tip your hand that you're leaving until your new appointment is less than 30 days off.

Ghilly