Posted on 01/27/2006 10:48:17 AM PST by JTN
The same judicial system that prosecuted Richard Paey for obtaining too much pain medication is now supplying him in prison with more than that amount to ease his tremendous pain.
60 Minutes correspondent Morley Safer reports on this case, in which an accident victim's quest to medicate his pain ran afoul of drug laws, this Sunday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
A long-ago car accident and failed spinal operation put Paey in such severe pain that only escalating amounts of opiate medication could relieve it.
"As I got worse, I developed a tolerance also with the medication and so I needed larger doses," says Paey, who describes the pain as burning in his legs. "It's an intense pain that, over time, will literally drive you to suicide."
Paey, who also suffers from multiple sclerosis, did try to commit suicide at one point.
After moving to Florida with his wife and children, Paey says doctors there were wary of prescribing the amounts of pills he needed as that would draw the attention of law enforcement. So he persuaded his longtime New Jersey doctor to continue prescribing his medication in the high amounts necessary for relief. The doctor agreed to fax and mail prescriptions and sometimes verified them to pharmacists.
Paey's frequent refills did draw attention and, before arresting him for drug trafficking, the Drug Enforcement Agency visited his New Jersey physician, Dr. Stephen Nurkiewicz. When confronted by agents about the number of pills Paey had purchased — 18,000 in two years — Nurkiewicz rescinded initial statements of support for his former patient and said Paey was forging prescriptions.
"In Richard Paey's room ... were the raw materials to make prescriptions," Florida State Prosecutor Scott Andringa says. "They found a lot of documents that suggested forging prescriptions."
They also found 60 empty bottles of pain relievers, some of which surveillance teams had watched Paey purchase. Andringa says there was no evidence that Paey was selling his drugs, "but it is a reasonable inference from the facts that he was selling them, because no person can consume all these pills."
Paey, confined to a wheelchair, is now serving 25 years in a Florida prison. A jury convicted him of 15 counts of prescription forgery, unlawful possession of a controlled substance, and drug trafficking. He had the choice of entering a guilty plea in exchange for no jail time but, for him, that was no choice, says Paey.
"Had I accepted a plea bargain and carried that conviction on my record, I would have found it near impossible to get any medication," he says. "I didn't want to plead guilty to something that I didn't do."
Paey denies selling his medication, saying he took and needed all 18,000 pills. This scenario — 25 pills a day — is plausible, says Dr. Russell Portnoy, chairman of the Department of Pain Medicine at New York’s Beth Israel Hospital.
Once acclimated to a drug, patients can regularly take what would be lethal doses to ordinary people, Portnoy says.
"It really sounds like society used a mallet to try to handle a problem that required a much more subtle approach," says Portnoy. "If they had taken this man who had engaged in behaviors that were unacceptable and treated it as a medical issue, it seems like this patient would have had better pain control and a functional life instead of being in prison."
Andringa disagrees. "This case is not about pain patients, it's just not. This case is about prescription fraud. We were very reasonable in this case. But once somebody says, 'I'm not going to accept a plea offer however reasonable it is …' "
Paey gets all the medication he needs now, in larger doses than he was taking before, from the state through a pump connected directly to his spine. He is appealing his conviction.
The state was fair, offering no jail time and probation. More than fair.Wow.
That didn't come out on the 60 Minutes interview that I saw this evening either. (Why am I not surprised?)
This is unbelievable...absolutely unbelievable.
I so agree with you, that's why hospice is so great.
You didn't have to do that, did you?
"I'm a paraplegic because of one of these lesions. I went to six "pain clinic experts" from 1999-2002 before anyone thought of this possibility."
Just like the other victims of undertreated pain, people don't listen! I can show you the data of thousands of other people with the same results. The dufus above had three primary issues
1) drug tolerance--eventually no amount of morphine,or it's various cogeners has any affect on pain.
2) Neuropathic pain is only miminally responsive to morphine. That's why the name of neuropathic pain syndromes has been changed from RSD to CRPS Type 1 & 2-- it only improves neuropathic pain by about 10%
3) Stupid Behavior-- People in serious pain do stupid things. Usually 50% of CRPS Type 1 & 2 pain patients take their own lives if their pain is not addressed in the first 6 months. Yesterday, a 45 yo former Steeler took his own life because of undertreated neuropathic pain.
4) You still don't know jack, blubbering along unconciously commenting on something that's a major dilemma for it's victims!
This poor guys adventure has just begun. His intrathecal pump won't work before too long. Mine didn't, after 18 months a tumor grew around the catheter tip that liquified my spinal cord that it was pressing on. I won't ever allow another tumor generator and I have opioid tolerance. I'm sorry to hear about your wife.
No, we didn't have to do that because the oncologist we had was wise enough to know that any risk of addiction was virtually insignificant compared to the immediate reality of pain. She, the oncologist, told us that 20 or even 10 years earlier, she would not have been able to make a drug like oxy available to use as needed at the patients' discretion. My wife was fully empowered to decide how much she needed and all the Onco asked was that she be kept informed of the dosage so she could adjust chemo accordingly.
Medically enabled addiction is insignificant in comparison to a reality like cancer or serious, endless, chronic pain.
Andringa says there was no evidence that Paey was selling his drugs, "but it is a reasonable inference from the facts that he was selling them, because no person can consume all these pills."
Andringa disagrees. "This case is not about pain patients, it's just not. This case is about prescription fraud. We were very reasonable in this case. But once somebody says, 'I'm not going to accept a plea offer however reasonable it is …' "
On the bright side –
Paey gets all the medication he needs now, in larger doses than he was taking before, from the state through a pump connected directly to his spine. He is appealing his conviction.
The DEA is making treatment of people with pain impossible …
Her breast cancer had spread to her bones (The pain has been compared to a whole body toothache) and then her liver and finally her brain. Until the cancer reached her brain, she was lucid and competent and even able to work and drive a car.
Got a problem there fool?
Sorry, never mind.
Sorry, never mind.
Other than Wolfie, can you name other freepers with WOD ping lists? I'd like to get on them.
It was in the segment.
I read your story. It was very moving. My sympathies.
Surely bleeding heeart liberals can feel this mans' pain?
Thank you.
Check any drug-related thread. You'll find several. I pointed one out to you when you pinged me on this subject recently.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.