To: President Donald Trump, The Colorado State House, The Colorado State Senate, Governor Jared Polis, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Keep the DEA out of PCP Doctor's Protocol for New Patients
Thousands of patients across the country who suffer from chronic pain are being turned away by regular primary care facilities at the behest of new DEA laws that forbid these doctors to treat chronic pain patients, but turn them away to pain "specialists" who are only allowed by the DEA to have only 300 patients maximum. If you are a RMHP Medicaid recipient, the list is shortened to 100 patients per treating doctor. Though patients may have health insurance, many are unable to use it in smaller towns because there are only 1 or 2 pain doctors that treat chronic pain; their waiting lists are impossible to penetrate. For other types of illnesses, patients are forced to the local ER's for treatment.
Why is this important?
Since the DEA got involved in healthcare, I was "fired" from my PCP because they no longer wanted to treat me, pain or no pain. A group of doctors in my town of Grand Junction, CO., had been arrested for abusing the prescribing protocols, and they were a cash-only enterprise. Since that happened, no doctor in town will touch a chronic pain patient with a 10-foot pole.
I have not been able to re-establish another PCP for going on 2 years now... to say nothing of getting proper treatment for my health issues. I have been told to "apply" online for new doctors, but I get denied because I have been treated for pain in the past--it doesn't even have to be going on presently. Just recently, I had to go to the hospital twice for a severe kidney infection because my complaint and symptoms were rushed by the emergency staff the first time around and sent home.
The chronic pain I have stems from a violent attack I sustained in 2008, where I was hurled down 2nd floor-high metal steps, and then raped and left for dead. I did not ask for this pain that has changed my life forever, nor am I a junkie. I just need a physician that gives a damn and will treat me with dignity and without prejudice. Please sign the petition asking congress to amend the DEA control over who doctors can admit as patients so that ALL can be treated fairly.
I have not been able to re-establish another PCP for going on 2 years now... to say nothing of getting proper treatment for my health issues. I have been told to "apply" online for new doctors, but I get denied because I have been treated for pain in the past--it doesn't even have to be going on presently. Just recently, I had to go to the hospital twice for a severe kidney infection because my complaint and symptoms were rushed by the emergency staff the first time around and sent home.
The chronic pain I have stems from a violent attack I sustained in 2008, where I was hurled down 2nd floor-high metal steps, and then raped and left for dead. I did not ask for this pain that has changed my life forever, nor am I a junkie. I just need a physician that gives a damn and will treat me with dignity and without prejudice. Please sign the petition asking congress to amend the DEA control over who doctors can admit as patients so that ALL can be treated fairly.