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Megan's Story
*****Meagan, 39, Washington State*****

Chronic pain sufferer for 17 years

Also treated for clinical depression, anxiety,
ADD and insomnia for over 20 years.

It took me 10 years of hit and miss therapies to get both my mental health stabilized and my
severe, chronic pain under control so my life was livable. In January of this year my pain Dr,
who have been with since 2012, cut my meds by in a 2 month time frame as well as gave me
an ultimatum to stop 3 of my main psych. meds or they would stop treating me at all. So without
contacting my psychiatrist or requesting those records to see the testing I've done that shows
my need for those medications, they forced me off my psych meds and they weren't even the
prescribing drs. Ive since been dealing with major withdrawals, suicidal thoughts, chronic
fatigue, insomnia and intense, mind numbing pain. I have never gone to an ER because I know
the way I will be treated and it will be a waste of time not to mention an unnecessary addition to
my anger and frustration. My quality of life has diminished almost completely. I'm 39 and
cannot bathe without help, cannot fix myself food, and I need help getting to the bathroom. I
have 2 kids and am married to an army sergeant who is gone for training missions most the
time.

Do you know how demoralizing it is to watch your 4th grader worry about how sick you are
because you can't get up off the couch to fix him breakfast or get him clean clothes?
Do you know how gut wrenching it is to see your teenage daughter give up nights out with
friends and weekend shopping trips because the laundry needs to be done, the fridge is bare,
the house is dirty and dinner needs to be made? Do you know how heart breaking it is to watch
your husband come home from work so tired, sore and down from a tough day just to finish the
housework your daughter didn't get done, take care of your son and then you before taking a
shower and crawling into bed to get up at 4 am and do it all over again. Only the worst part
being how lost he looks when he looks at you, knowing hes remembering how it used to be,
what you used to be able to do but he feels all the pressure of work and home and doesnt know
how to help you. I know how all those things feel and they are devastating. I grieve over the life
I've lost as if it were a family member. I long for just a few hours of relief and alertness to be
able to watch a movie with my husband or make the backyard into a campground for a night
with my son or so my daughter can go out with friends and not have to worry about getting back
to a sick mother and dirty house.

The clinic I go to has always required a monthly tox screen and I've never asked for early refills
or failed a drug test. They used to fill a script for 30 days with 28 day appointments, now it's
exactly 28 day fills and still 28 day appointments. One of my medications is so expensive (a
generic at $3000 a month) that most pharmacies don't carry it or won't fill it because my
insurance won't reimburse them the full amount and it's always at least 2 days or more to get it
filled, and still I get just 28 days. They tell me their clinical practices are following the law but
that is simply not true. Ive been in contact with WA state DOH licensing commissioner and the
DOH lawyer, both of who have also told me their practices are NOT based on any current laws
and they see the unethical and dangerous practices this clinic is participating in but there's
nothing they can do without me filing a complaint. There's no longer any trust between patient
and Dr at all because they would rather lie to us than take a chance on 'losing their lisences',
which is an unfounded fear since all the drs fined, jailed or shut down have been because of
inadequate record keeping. My only recourse is to file a complaint, which the DOH lawyer says
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I have a solid, actionable case for but I would be kicked out of the clinic with no one to take over
my 'care'. And the little medication I do have is worth hanging onto, for the sake of my life.

Also Washington state has approved safe heroin injection sites

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/safe-injection-sites-get-ok-from-king-county-
health-board/

which lawmakers do not see as a massive conflict with their current narrative of them
combating the opioid epidemic. The wrong people are being punished for things that a smaller
group is responsible for and yet it seems their priorities are more geared toward keeping addicts
safe and comfortable while pulling the rug out from under chronically ill people.

In addition, the CDC purposely falsified and left out key data in their reports that lead to the
production and publication of the opioid prescribing guidelines in 2016.

https://edsinfo.wordpress.com/2017/02/24/updated-evidence-against-cdc-opioid-guidelines/

One example of falsified data is their reliance on the MME (morphine milligram equivalent)
calculator which doctors use to convert (X)mg of one medication into (X)mg of morphine, of
which there is no real scientific basis to do so.

( http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/863477 )

Furthermore, the CDC guidelines are being treated as law and as policy for nearly every pain
clinic in the country, which it was specifically not intended for. The guidelines clearly state they
are for PCPs, dentists and ER doctors.

The CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic PainUnited States, 2016, is intended
for primary care clinicians (eg, family physicians, internists, nurse practitioners, and physician
assistants) who are treating patients with chronic pain (ie, pain conditions that typically last >3
months or past the time of normal tissue healing) in outpatient settings. The guideline is
intended to apply to patients 18 years and older with chronic pain outside of active cancer
treatment, palliative care, and end-of-life care. Some of the recommendations might be relevant
for acute care settings or other specialists, such as emergency physicians or dentists, but use in
these settings or by other specialists is not the focus of the guideline.

( second paragraph under introduction:

http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/ fullarticle/2503508#122616559 )

This war on pain patients isn't going to curb deaths or ODs, in fact you can already see it's a
wash in terms of saving human lives since we are now seeing increases in suicides and heroin
overdoses.

**************************
Periscope: https://www.pscp.tv/CPPatientsWar/1mnxemXlYeoxX?t=5
http://www.thedailybeast.com/feds-pill-
crackdown-drives-pain-patients-to-heroin
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https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2017/5/26/patient-suicide-blamed-on-montana-pain-
clinic

https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2016/5/27/are-cdcs-opioid-guidelines-causing-more-
suicides

http://www.acsh.org/news/2016/11/01/merciless-seattle-untreated-pain-misery-and-suicide-
10389
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We didn't ask to be held prisoner by our broken bodies, we would rather not have to go to the Dr
every month and we would rather not take medications every single day, but what other options
are there or chance do we have at living a somewhat productive life we can be proud to call
ours? And why, if they insist on yanking our lifeline away, are they not offering us suboxone or
other medications to combat the harrowing withdrawals? Heroin addicts are freely given these
meds for their safety and yet they have chosen to be addicts and use extremely dangerous,
illegal drugs without any caution or care of consequences.

But chronic pain patients are the ones facing the consequences of addicts behavior and it's
putting our lives at great risk by neglecting to acknowledge the danger that chronic pain, not to
mention withdrawals, has on our overall health. These health implications are so severe that
they can lead to death by stroke from extremely elevated blood pressure and, as mentioned
before, suicide. Another byproduct of undertreating pain and abusing patients trust is self
medicating as indicated in this
article. https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2017/5/22/poorly-treated-pain-linked-to-opioid-
misuse

******************************

https://m.facebook.com/notes/the-ehlers-danlos-society/what-happens-when-pain-goes-
untreated/10157775011005657/

http://www.cssa-inc.org/Articles/Chronic_Pain.htm

http://wellescent.com/health_blog/the-damaging-effects-of-chronic-pain-on-the-brain

https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2017/6/25/leaving-pain-untreated-is-
torture#.WVEMsUy12ME.facebook=

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.practicalpainmanagement.com/amp/10608#ampshare=http
s://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/sudden-unexpected-death-chronic-pain-patients

https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2017/5/20/an-epidemic-of-undertreated-chronic-pain

********************************

Just as with the prohibition of alcahol, pain medications are being demonized and the
government is trying to regulate human behavior with more laws without any regard to the
people who take their medications safely and as prescribed. It's a textbook case for the
definition of insanity; doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. Heroin use
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will continue to climb and suicides will also keep rapidly increasing.

The facts are addicts will be addicts, no matter how many laws and regulations you put on the
books. They will always find a way to get what they need and no amount of limitations on
doctors will ever change that.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this and beg you to seriously consider doing an in depth
investigation and a new report on our crisis situation as it is is vital and the last hope for many
of us!!!! It would be good for someone to finally give us a voice.

-Meagan R.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10207171522485948&id=1819270181

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10207415842953807&id=1819270181

https://www.facebook.com/WAR4PainPatients/