I am getting railroaded to take methadone for pain due to the cheapness.

[railroaded]

I have had 2 back surgeries the last causing constant pain.  I have been on oxycontin for pain for years.  Even though it only dulls the pain, i am able to move now and have to raise my grandson, who is 9 and i have been raising him alone for the past 8 years.  Due to the high cost of the oxycontin, which, after numerous tries of every other concievable drug, except heroin, also spinal epidurals, oxycontin had been allowing me to actually maintain a semblance of pain relief, and allowing me to raise my grandson.  For the second time in 2 years my insurance company has insisted I see THEIR pain doctor, although I have been seeing mine for almost 15 years.He is insisting on my switching to high doses of methadone for continual pain...again.  His last report said I was NOT a good candidate.  MY dr. insists my switching could literally kill me, but I am being railroaded due to the fact that methadone is as cheap as dirt.  Both drs. agree this is the reason.  They are not planning on ever getting me OFF methadone, just switching.  I have researched this, and I will not be able to continue staying alert on the doses they want me on.  Also, nobody will address the harm methadone does to your body.  I am getting screwed over the cost.  I have been maintaining a degree of life I can live with, but now am being more than pressured.  Why don't the doctors mention that methadone is being PUSHED by every insurance company to give to patients for pain, not anything to do with heroin or any pain medication withdrawel?  My family dr. also got the memo to try to give all her patients with pain methadone.  I refuse to get on it and will have to see what happens.  It has become a personal nightmare.   Railroaded  

[Dee1956]

  Hi I answered your other question and am sending the answer on this post as well.  I am confused as to why your ins would not want you to be on oxycontin, isn't there a generic?  Is this some type of workmen's comp insurance?  Sorry just trying to understand.  There are many times where an ins co does not pay for a certain drug however will pay if the doctor explains why.  If this doesn't work, you could look up the name of the drug company that makes oxycontin to see if they have a discount card for their medication.  I have seen that on many of the higher costing drugs.  I do not understand why, if we pay so much for insurance that they should tell us what we can and and can not take, so sorry

I am sorry you are having problems.  My husband was on fentanyl and more.  His doctor did not show up one day and never returned. At the same time our insurance company refused to pay for the high priced drugs and we did not have $1,000.  My husband went through horrible withdrawal until he could find another pain management doctor.
I told the doctor that we needed a pain medicine that we could pay for so that if the insurance stopped paying for we could still manage.  I hope this makes sense.
I agree with you that is is terrible that insurance companies get to decide what is allowed however I never want to be in the situation again, where my husband is going through withdrawal, we have a prescription and can't pay for it.  Methadone is a good pain medicine, it lasts longer than anything else.  Also a person can take a very low dose to handle the pain.
Good luck to you

[femmy29]

There is not a generic formulation of oxycontin.  When Purdue Pharma reformulated it in 2010, that extended the patent for at least another 10 years.

femmy

[femmy29]

I wholeheartedly understand your concerns about methadone.  I would not personally ever in a 100 years consider methadone as a pain medication to manage my pain.  It has an extremely long half life such that it can build up to dangerously high levels in the body which can be fatal without immediate medical attention.  Additionally, higher doses (more than 60 mg of methadone a day) can cause QT interval prolongation that can lead to spontaneous cardiac arrest.

I am also confused why one medication would be forced upon you when there are other medications out there that are low in cost such as MS Contin.  I am curious to understand more about your insurance coverage as most commercial insurance providers like BCBS, United Healthcare, Aetna, etc. wouldn't force one medication on a patient not to mention there would be hundreds maybe thousands complaining as these providers have a large network of members.  It indeed sounds like you are going through workman's comp or insurance through a auto accident.  Do you have health insurance through your employer that you can switch to or can you apply for medicare or medicaid?

Methadone is most definitely not for everyone...especially me.

femmy

[railroaded]

Actually, the original Oxycontin LOSSED their lawsuit and there is a generic, which I am on, but is is also so expensive.  The people with the original patent won the 1st time, but since then, it HAS been available in generic form, first by a company... starts with M. (remember  the pills!) and now the formulation is made differently so you can't snort it or shoot it, which was the original reason for the reformulation. The original oxycontinis usually not prescribed, I am sure due to the cost, but mine IS generic!

[femmy29]

Not trying to cause dissent as I am here to help in anyway I can but there is no longer a generic oxycontin formula on the market.  When Purdue Pharma reformulated the pill and renamed it Oxycontin OP, that extended the patent on Oxycontin.  Purdue Pharma won the lawsuit and all the generic manufacturers that were producing Oxycontin had to exit the market.  A similar scenario happened with Opana ER.  Endo Pharmaceuticals reformulated Opana ER so that it couldn't be crushed and snorted.  When they did that, it extended their patent for at least another 10 years.  The difference in this case is there remains two strengths of generic Opana ER on the market that are manufactured by Actavis Pharmaceuticals.  Endo Pharmaceuticals no longer makes the 7.5 mg and 15 mg Opana ER strengths as they are now made generically by Actavis Pharmceuticals.  But there were companies preparing to manufacture the other Opana ER strengths (e.g., 10 mg, 20 mg, 30 mg, & 40 mg) generically when the patent was set to expire next year.  The reformulation of Opana ER effectively extended this patent for at least another 10 years.

Here is some literature regarding the suspension of generic Oxycontin (credit: Wikipedia):

Lawsuits concerning generics:

Purdue has multiple patents for OxyContin, but has been involved in a series of ongoing legal battles on the validity of these patents. On June 7, 2005, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a decision from the previous year that some of Purdue’s patents for OxyContin could not be enforced.[45] This decision allowed and led to the immediate announcement from Endo Pharmaceuticals that would begin launching a generic version of all four strengths of OxyContin.[46] Purdue, however, had already made negotiations with another pharmaceutical company (IVAX Pharmaceuticals) to distribute their brand OxyContin in a generic form.[46] This contract was severed, and as of October 2005 Watson Pharmaceuticals became the exclusive U.S. distributor of Purdue-manufactured generic versions of OxyContin tablets in 10-, 20-, 40-, and 80-milligram dosages.[47]

On February 1, 2006, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision revising its 2005 decision.[48] This time the court vacated the lower court's "judgment that the patents-in-suit are unenforceable due to inequitable conduct", and the case was "remanded for further proceedings".[48]

Purdue Pharma has since announced resolution of its infringement suits with Endo,[49] Teva,[50] IMPAX,[51] and Mallinckrodt.[52] Endo and Teva each agreed to cease selling generic forms of OxyContin.[49][50] IMPAX negotiated a temporary, and potentially renewable, license.[51] In 2008, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals reintroduced generic OxyContin in the strengths of 10 mg, 20 mg, 40 mg and 80 mg, which was made possible by a temporary royalties-bearing license with Purdue Pharma that expired in 2009.[52]

Link to the full article is here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OxyContin#OxyContin

femmy

[femmy29]

Here is an addtional link that has some more recent information regarding the discontinuation of generic Oxycontin ER until at the earliest 2013:

http://pain.emedtv.com/oxycontin/generic-oxycontin.html

I have posted relevant information from the above website below:

Generic for OxyContin: An Overview
OxyContin® (oxycodone ER) is a prescription pain medication. Although generic OxyContin was available and sold by various different manufacturers in the past, several legal battles have resulted in limited availability of generic OxyContin. In fact, because generic OxyContin is no longer being made, most people will not have access to generic OxyContin.

Brand-name OxyContin is made by Purdue Pharma L.P.

Generic OxyContin Availability
As the result of several lawsuits and settlements, many of the manufacturers that previously made generic OxyContin products were forced to stop making such products. Only a few manufacturers were allowed to continue to make their generic versions. These manufacturers include IMPAX Laboratories and Mallinckrodt, Inc.

The agreements between these manufacturers and Purdue Pharma L.P. (the manufacturer of OxyContin) were temporary; the agreement with IMPAX has expired and the agreement with Mallinckrodt also appears to have expired.

Some pharmacies (especially those who have "stockpiled" a large supply of this medication) may continue to supply generic OxyContin for a while.

When Will Generic OxyContin Become Available Again?
It is likely that there will be no generic versions of OxyContin until April 2013, when Purdue's patent for OxyContin is set to expire. This is the earliest predictable date that generic OxyContin will become available again. However, there are other circumstances that could change this date. This could include such things as lawsuits or other patents for specific OxyContin uses.

---So it appears that you may have generic Oxycontin because of the remainding stock piles of it that Mallinckrodt was making prior to ceasing production.  It also appears that generic Oxycontin may be available as early as April 2013 but I am most certain that Purdue Pharma will fight this with a vengence.  

So this may explain more as to why your insurance company is pushing you off of Oxycontin as they are having to foot the bill for the brand name medication due to the discontinuation of generic Oxycontin.  Before the generic Oxycontin stockpiles run out, they want you transitioned to methadone so they don't have to pay full price for brand name Oxycontin.

femmy

[railroaded]

Dear Femmy, thanks for researching so thoroughly!  Hopefully it MAY make a difference if I can hold off the brigade until April of next year!  I am trying!  I get the OP'S and have for about 2+ ys, and before that a few months of the ones with the M in the square, must be the Ma....! (can't scroll up!)  I go back on June 13th so will let you know the pressure I get! Think I mentioned I burst into tears at my regular Dr;s appt.! (My wonderful back Dr!) He had NEVER seen me cry, except in excruciating pain before each surgery, and I have a very high threshold for pain, it was the STRESS! I have been keeping a journal, something I have never done, so I don't forget to make my salient points. It is ridiculous we go through this! Here the researchers are, trying to formulate pain meds that are strong enough to make your life manageable, and every trip to the emergency room (which I never even BOTHER going to anymore!), you are accused of being a drug-seeking, pill popping addict, and this is even AFTER I let them know (and maybe BECAUSE of it with certain Drs.), I don't need their mediocre stupid pills, I have stronger at home!  Then you are REALLY labelled!  I had to have my gall bladder out a few yrs. ago, and when I mentioned to the surgeon to not bother writing me a prescription for pain meds, he looked at me, and later, after the surgery, and I LOOKED 100%  better, he actually remarked, (mind you, he had just removed a seriously diseased gall bladder HIMSELF!), "why, I think you WERE in a lot of pain before, you look so much better!"  What did he expect! 8 out of 10 Drs. and 9 out of 10 Drs. at the emergency room think you are lying,... about what?  Your MRI? I was pretty good and pretty disgusted with dealing with Drs, due to my sons Leukemia.  I was BOLD, and aggressive, and the best advocate I could be for him.  Somehow, when it is yourself!, they treat you like you are a liar!  I do hold the Drs a little higher than an attorney, but give me a good nurse any day! They never questioned my son's pain, and he refused meds until hospice, when they told him 6 more weeks, he just was so mad and said, "give me a morphine pack, NOW!" He was 9 yrs old. Maybe because we were at UCSF, and maybe it was because we were both so forceful.  I learned something during his treatment, there are good Drs, just as there are crappy bad ones with NO empathy. Most patients, and for sure mothers of patients know a heck of a lot more about their bodies than the Doctors. I remember at the end I had to tell my sons Dr. "look, you have about 50 oncology patients, and I have ONE son, I know more about him than you do, because I am only focused on one"  it is exactly the same with our pain, they can't keep track of every patients every reaction, and only a doctor with a big ego thinks so! (Unfortunately, ego usually comes with the job!) I am so tired and sorry for the rambling!  thanks to all who post, it hurts to sit at the computer for a lot of us I know!

[nixx126]

Try to get the switch to the Generic - MS Contin they are not even half as expensive as the Oxy. I take it and it kills pain and still alert.

[shinty]

I am a chronic pain patient taking methadone BY CHOICE for my pain. It is very inexpensive, works great, and lasts a long time. I am on oxycodone also for breakthrough pain. Even the oxycodone is inexpensive, compared with oxycontin. Alot of "real" long-term chronic pain patients take methadone for their "around the clock" pain. I have tried every other pain killer on the market- fentanyl patches and lollipops, ms contin, oxycontin, percocets, vicoden,dilaudid,and all the others. I guess 'm lucky that the cheap medicines are working for me. I remember having to pay cash for the patches and lolipops.It was VERY expensive every month.

[railroaded]

What exactly ARE the lollipops, I have heard them mentioned, but not by my doctor, are they just another way or form of Fentanyl? What is the difference? I am just guessing but are they more of an instant relief? Thanks in advance!

[Lauriel500]

I just read the original post and all of the comments here and I just want to say that I am really impressed with the quality and detail of information shared here.  This is a truly great site (only discovered it yesterday)!

I do have a minor question (really just one of many that come to mind) but I thought I might ask...what do these different pills cost, roughly?  I have ins that is related to Medical/Medicade and they pay for every cent of my medical expenses so I have no idea what they run.  

Many thanks.