[Dysphagia] OT: H.R. 3015 Continues War Against Pain Patients and Doctors

[bonnieh4455 at sbcglobal.net (Bonnie Heintskill)]

H.R. 3015 Continues War Against Pain Patients and Doctors

Michael Arnold Glueck, M.D., and Robert J. Cihak, M.D., The Medicine Men
Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2004

The current Congress has a few lame ducks, but they're still mighty busy
birds - trying to push through lots of big legislation such as 1,000 pages
of a $338 billion omnibus spending bill.

They're also hoping that little bills zip right through, below the public's
radar - bills such as H.R. 3015, which targets physicians and pharmacists in
the take-no-prisoners war on pain drugs and patients suffering chronic pain.

H.R. 3015, the National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act,
passed in the U.S. House of Representatives in October. It's now before the
Senate, where it's slated for a voice vote before the current session of
Congress expires on January 2, 2005. A voice vote is a way to pass a bill
quickly without a record of which way each senator voted.

This bill would encourage states to establish programs requiring physicians
and other providers such as pharmacists to report any and every prescription
for a wide range of commonly prescribed drugs, including pain medications
and antidepressants. In addition to the medicine and dose, the doctor would
have to give the government the patient's name, address and telephone
number.

This private prescription information would then become part of a national
computer database, available to the police and also possibly to employers,
newspapers, blackmailers or anybody else curious about such information.

The patient would not even know about the release of this prescription
information, much less consent to its release or review. Police would have
access to personal prescription information without having probable cause to
believe a crime had been committed and without having to convince a judge to
issue a search warrant.

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents and state licensure boards
already have great powers. They currently can get information on
prescriptions written for controlled substances and have sweeping authority
to investigate anybody they choose and to prosecute doctors for prescribing
more painkillers than agents think appropriate.

HR 3015 would dramatically enhance the reach of police and DEA agents into
the privacy of doctors and patients.

Some government officials liken doctors to terrorists, and want equal
judicial vigor in pursuing doctors. For example, according to a September
press release from the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons,
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gene Rossi declared to a reporter that "our office
will try our best to root out [certain doctors] like the Taliban. Stay
tuned."

In opposition to the bill, Rep. Ron Paul, M.D., of Texas said HR 3015 "is
yet another unjustifiable attempt by the federal government to use the war
on drugs as an excuse for invading the privacy and liberties of the American
people and for expanding the federal government's disastrous micromanagement
of medical care."

He pointed out that the government is embarking on a "war on pain patients
and their doctors" that "has already resulted in the harassment and
prosecution of many doctors ... whose only 'crime' is prescribing legal
medication ... to relieve their patients' pain. These prosecutions, in turn,
have scared other doctors so that they are unwilling to prescribe an
adequate amount of pain medication, or even any pain medication, for their
suffering patients."

Could it be that government agents are going after innocent and hard-working
doctors because the doctors are easy targets? Are real criminals going free
because these same government agents find it too much work to break through
the complicated logistic and legal defenses that real criminals sometimes
build and hide behind?

Rather than giving non-medical officials more authority, power and money,
Congress and the president should restrain the DEA from essentially telling
doctors how to practice medicine.

Rather than using resources to send trained actors feigning pain to entrap
doctors, the DEA and other agencies should communicate and cooperate with
doctors.

To further this goal, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons
(AAPS) recently developed a three-point "Communicate and Cooperate" proposal
to encourage physicians and law enforcement to work together to prevent
prescription drug abuse. The proposal includes several ways law enforcement
agents can work with doctors, such as:

1. Working together to track suspected drug abusers. To balance current laws
requiring doctors to provide information about suspected abusers to the
government, government agencies would notify doctors about suspicious
patient behavior such as contact with known drug dealers or abusers.

2. Reviewing possible cases with professional medical boards before filing
charges in court. Doctors would review a physician's practice with police
before non-medical prosecutors would file criminal charges. This would help
prevent embarrassing errors by government agents and would prevent worsening
the current shortage of doctors willing to adequately treat patients with
chronic and painful medical conditions.

3. Mutual training of law enforcement and medical personnel. Law enforcement
people would educate doctors about recognizing patterns of illegal activity
and criminal intent; doctors would educate police about modern pain
treatment. And why is the U.S. Senate vote scheduled for only a "yea" or
"nay" voice vote, without recording which senator voted which way? One
reason is so that senators can't be held to account for their votes.

As Rep. Paul says, "Instead of further eroding our medical privacy, Congress
should take steps to protect it." Please let your senators know what you
think, before it's too late.

Editor's Note: Robert J. Cihak wrote this week's column.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/11/22/142125.shtml