I m a chronic pain patient and have recently seen a pain management doctor. After my first visit, and a review of my medical records, the doctor prescribed opiates for my pain, however, after taking the meds, I didn t receive much relief. So I had to revisit the clinic to change the regimen. THe doctor changed the dosage/fregquency but I was still not getting the relief needed to function, so I would take more than directed and had to schedule another appointment. I began to get frustrated because the doctor was very conservative and I had to visit the office a total of 4 visits within one month to finally come up with the correct regimen/medications, dosage and frequency. At the fourth appointment, my doctor refused to prescribe or change the opiates and started to suggest addiction counseling or seek a detox doctor. Is this abandonment? I started to feel sick since the meds were running out and withdrawl symptoms started happening. I ve provided my previous medical records with MRI, CT scans to support my medical conditions. His reasoning to stop the opiate prescriptions is he thought I was drug seeking since I have other prescriptions from various doctors for pain medication, however, I explained that I ve gone to urgent care centers to obtain pain relief and there were only 4-5 doctors (2 of which were my ob/gyn that prescribed pain med for my edometriosis/menstrual pain) He used this as an excuse to dismiss me. What can I do, is this patient abandonment? What are my rights?
posted on
Sun, 1 Mar 2015