My very first post is an extremely personal one. Richard Paey is an attorney with three children. He suffers from multiple sclerosis and severe chronic pain due to a botched spinal surgery. He must now depend on a wheelchair; walking is too painful.
In this country, it is very difficult to get opiate pain medications because the medical community is being persecuted for prescribing them. Lack of education regarding the use of opioids for pain control and the "War on Drugs" has put pharmacies and doctors in the position of having to defend writing and filling prescriptions for these drugs. The feds scrutinize them looking for any chance to prosecute someone for filling or writing too many opioid prescriptions (how many is too many?).
In an effort to control Richard's pain, his doctor was writing more prescriptions, with higher dosages, of Percocet and other pain medications. This raised a red flag in the system, and the local police began watching Richard. Even though there was no evidence that he was selling the drugs, they raided his home and arrested him for possession of his own medications. His doctor, fearful of losing his medical license, and being jailed himself, denied he had written some of the prescriptions. Richard was sentenced to 25 years in a Florida prison for prescription forgery because he refused to take a plea deal which would have required him to plead guilty. Please read more about his case here and here.
At this point, the only way that Richard can be freed from prison is a pardon from Florida Governor Charlie Christ. While I do not agree that Richard Paey should have been convicted, or in the manner in which he must be freed from prison, something must be done. Please e-mail Florida Governor Charlie Christ at charlie.christ@myflorida.com and request that he pardon Richard Paey.
I understand Richard Paey's situation because I personally suffered with degenerative disc disease for over ten years. During those years my pain naturally increased as the disc deteriorated. I saw a surgeon for the first five years who dismissed my increasing pain because he did not feel my reports matched what he saw on the MRI's and X-rays that were done. When I got considerably worse, I saw a neurosurgeon who wanted me to hold out for artificial disc replacement (ADR). (That is another story in itself.)
Then, I moved to another state. If you have a chronic illness and move, you start a new search for doctors to treat your condition. I went through two primary care physicians, two surgeons, and a pain management specialist; none took me seriously. Two of them actually dismissed me without seeing any of my medical records. (ALWAYS hand carry your records to appointments with specialists!) I had managed to fight my PCP for Percocet in addition to the Tramadol I had been taking for some time.
I finally found Dr. Robert Dzioba at University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson. By the time I saw Dr. Dzioba, I was in excruciating pain, nearly unable to walk, and had been for some time in spite of the massive doses of pain killers I was taking. X-rays at Dr. Dziobas office showed my disc had collapsed completely and what was left of it had pushed into my spinal canal displacing nerves, and stenosis had begun. My only option was spinal fusion. I finally was prescribed morphine to help the pain, but even that was not enough.
I survived the weeks before and after surgery only through morphine and oxycodone. If my surgeon had been afraid to prescribe them for me, it would have been sheer torture. I am now 90 days post-op. The only thing I am taking for pain is acetaminophen. Yes, I experienced some physical withdrawal symptoms. They are much like having the flu. Am I an addict? No. Many drugs cause physical withdrawal symptoms when they are discontinued. That does not make people addicts. I could go into a tirade about that as well, but I would recommend reading the work of Dr. Russell Portenoy for more information.
I could have been in the same situation as Richard Paey. Many other unjust convictions have occurred and more will follow. Please join me in e-mailing Governor Christ and the fight to treat those in chronic pain with the medications and dignity they deserve.
