re: I was appointed to the AL Council on Opiod Misuse and Addiction (UPDATE #2)

I understand the need was there to curb the pill mills and the doctor shopping and I'm totally fine with the new policies put in place (urine testing by docs, prescription monitoring, etc.) but the state of Alabama, has in the process, fricked over a TON of legitimate pain patients.

Within a 2 week period in December we lost 2 very good pain docs not due to any illegal things being done in their practices but by the state forcing them to close by using Medicare and Medicaid to refuse their billings.

There has got to be a happy medium somewhere that keeps the pill mills and drug seekers in check but still allows real people in pain - who don't abuse their medicine but are physically dependent - to get their medication.

Law makers don't seem to get that there is a difference between abuse and dependence. There are plenty of patients that are taking their opioids as directed and have been for years that are getting left in the cold in the state's zeal to not be number one on the list of "Opioid Prescriptions Per Capita".

And tell them there is a reason for the spike in heroin use - it correlates directly to the state's black and white policy on opioids.

I'd sincerely love to spend some time talking to them about what I've experienced as both a member of the healthcare community and as a patient.