Tennessee doctor feels shutdown of pain clinics fuels opioid crisis

“What you don’t understand and what the country has forgotten is that 10 to 11 percent of America is in chronic pain,” he explained.

He says that group was dealt a blow in 2015 when the state legislature passed a bill that closed 308 certified pain clinics in one day.

“That put 120,000 people on the streets with nowhere to go because the law designated that only pain specialists could treat them, and there were only 63 of them living in Tennessee at the time, and their offices were full and not taking new patients,” according to Rudolph.

I suffer severe chronic pain. I have had two major back surgeries that have basically left me unable to lift anything over 8 to 10 pounds without pain. But, usually there is pain. The L4-5 discs blew out and my back was bone on bone smashing the nerves down causing severe pain every time I moved.

I have had 10 total surgeries within an 8 year period. I have had over 40 epidurals in the past few years. Most of them never seem to work, but it seems every pain doctor I have ever been too want to do those on you because they make way more money on the procedures than the office visits to give you pain meds, muscle relaxers, nerve medication, etc. I have had nerve tests that tell me my back, legs, hips are all screwed up. That the nerves cannot be fixed. Nothing works. Even the powerful pain pills on seem to dull the pain, but it never truly goes away.

People who hoot at people with back pain have never had back pain. Severe back pain can keep you from getting out of bed. I have had pain so bad that my wife had to bring me one of those hospital hand-held urinals to just take a leak because I could not get out of bed. It is the same trying to get out of a chair. You have such pain sometimes you actually scream getting up. I ruined my back, shoulders and knees in the Army. No amount of surgeries can fix them. When you have injuries that involve nerves, you have pain that you simple cannot live with some times. If you have not ever had this kind of severe pain, count yourself lucky because if you have it, you know it.

I need a knee replacement but keep putting it off because of the pain involved. I wear a knee brace to keep my knee stabilized enough to walk. After 10 painful surgeries, #11 is not something I look forward too. Oh, and surgery #12 will be a hear valve replacement in the next year or two. Again something I don't look forward too. But, something I will have to do.

Your first posting to me is right on the money, tragically. Your second posting assesses the fear that leads to bad law.
Let me tell you, NO ONE in the facility in Scranton where I work is interested in turning residents into vegetables. I know that some staff at some facilities will happily add to the ease of their jobs by KO’ing confused residents with narcs. I strongly believe that this had happened to my dad occasionally in another nursing home. But as for the majority of professionals, the thought of doing this makes us sick. In medicine, as in all other endeavors, do-gooder liberals in ivory towers make laws which greatly diminish the quality of lives of a sizable minority of people they think they are helping.

That is where you are wrong, my first PT was in my 30’s. It popped another disc. From there it went down hill.

I’ve gone to PT every time I’ve been sent, all were disasters with new damage being down. OOPS were Sorry you are not Treatable.

They need to READ what Fibromyalgia is, it is a degenerative muscle disease. It requires a different approach and different techniques, not your standard ones, or 13 weeks. 80% are women and most have Thyroid disease on top of that.

Osteoratoritis Drugs destroyed my Gastro tract, then the PPI’s my Bones. Not 1 WARNING THAT THEY WERE BLACK BOXED EITHER!

Not 1 word is being said about riding the market of the Black Boxed OA drugs! Which are Black Boxed for Both Heart and GI disease.

With the exception of the Fibromyalgia all my health condition are directly related to FDA approved Black Boxed drugs. NOT 1 of them Treatable or fixable. The only thing they can do is manage the Neuropathy and Fibromyalgia pain. GI doesn’t tolerate Opioids. Ive not drawn a pain free breathe in 30 yrs unless I was under anthesia.

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Wrong
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Entitled to your opinion

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I want the Government to do their JOB to police our Borders, interdict the drugs, Punish the PILl MILLS they Created, and get the He$$ out of my MEDICAL CARE! And if the FDA BLACK BOXES A DRUG ITS PULLED FROM THE MARKET AS TO DANGEROUS FOR THE PUBLIC!
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Boy, talk about circular reasoning. “Get out...but do X, Y, Z before you go”.

I do concur re: getting govt out of the medical side of the equation, which does include the FDA.

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