Pubdate: Wed, 25 Feb 2015
Source: Tallahassee Democrat (FL)
Copyright: 2015 Tallahassee Democrat
Contact: http://static.tallahassee.com/contactus-form/
Website: http://www.tallahassee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/444
Author: G. Pierce Jones III
Note: Headline has typo. It should read PAIN medication

REGULATION OF PAID MEDICATION HAS GONE TOO FAR

I practiced orthopedic surgery in Tallahassee for 35 years. During
that time, it was necessary to provide pain medication to my patients
many times. There was never any problem doing what was indicated, as I
can recall.

But that was then, and now is now. Now the government has decided it
will decide who gets medication and who does not. How has the
government done that? By making it so difficult to prescribe narcotic
pain medication that many physicians simply refuse to do so. They are
afraid of being sanctioned or of losing their license to practice
because the D.E.A. has gone too far in cleaning up the pill mills.

Now patients with legitimate, chronic, severe pain cannot get the
medications they need to lead a decent quality of life, and in many
instances, make a living for themselves and their families.

I applaud the attorney general for her efforts in South Florida,
especially in promoting legislation to stop clinics from dispensing
drugs in the office. But the pendulum has swung too far. The D.E.A.
should not be deciding who does and does not need pain medication.
That is the job of your doctor.

G. PIERCE JONES III, M.D., Orlando
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MAP posted-by: Matt