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Mental Health Doctor Stopped Prescribing Everything. Malpractice? (Please Skim Before Flaming Me.)

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m060mm

Bluelighter
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Mar 11, 2011
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TL;DR, I'll bold the important parts if it'll get you to chime in:

I was forced to go cold turkey off 16mg/day Suboxone because my doctor didn't and still won't renew his Suboxone-specific license - not for any stated reason. He also cut off the Dexedrine and clonazepam in the same visit. I didn't do anything ie. relapse, act inappropriate, abuse my medication, etc. to warrant this He just felt we should take this time to go back to square one and address my major recurrent depression. Ever hear of PAWS? Of COURSE I'm going to be depressed after this ordeal, if not spiritually, physiologically. He has other patients dependent on him... I don't know what's going on with them, naturally.

My doctor had me on:

  • 16mg Suboxone
  • 1mg clonazepam
  • 45mg Dexedrine
..and a few others but controlled substances are what I'd like to focus on.

I was highly dependent on this man, with next to no other options given my insurance and three and a half years of history working together.

*For anyone unfamiliar with Suboxone, doctors have to take a ten hour training course to be able to prescribe it. In my opinion it's far more addictive than heroin when it comes to dependency and it's analgesic properties beat it there, too. And 16mg is a pretty high dose to cruise on with no foreseeable end date. But that's not my responsibility to consider. I believe 24mg is the max allowable per day with no exception.

Anyway, these licenses require renewal like all others, and he just let his lapse. He knew it was going to run out and he chose not to act. He has other patients on Suboxone he's said, but I have no idea how they're handling it. When he failed to get me my Suboxone within two weeks of it running out early on, I relapsed. Twice.

I know I'm somewhat responsible here, but just consider the negligence facet for a minute to see if I'm blowing this out of proportion. I suffered heroin-like withdrawal [several times] due to my doctor's poor communication, lack of diligence, neglect and sheer laziness. He's had me 'wait' for a prescription plenty of times, but now he's not even trying to renew it. I had to resort to tapering myself down with street-purchased Suboxone because he's not even trying to renew his license.

Is this malpractice? I've suffered severely over these three years; I came to him in a fragile, needy state to begin with and he has fumbled at so many crucial turns and made my recovery far more difficult than need be. It's like he just looks at the sheet of paper instead of a person. I'm in severe pain, shaky, depressed, feeling hopeless and worn out. This isn't the state you want to be in when you come off a drug-barring medication. I'm not trying to play up my side, I'm just saying it was an easily avoidable problem that resulted in very powerful one-sided consequences.
 
If he is not going t renew his license then find another doc. I know its easier said than done. He is not obligated by law or anything to renew that kind license. Doctors are under a microscope right now and maybe he's not worried about losing the patients. But no I don't think it is malpractice.
 
These drugs have horrible withdrawal symptoms, especially the clonazepam which can have life threatening complications if not tapered off of properly. Talk to a lawyer, if this doesnt legally count as medical malpractice it should, it is an absolutely horrible thing to do to someone physically dependant on these medications... find another doctor asap and most definitely talk to a lawyer or even whatever advisory board that over see's physicians and their licences, this is pretty fucked up.
 
he should have atleast warned you and weaned.....i had one doc make me go cold off percs and xanax...bitch.

but other docs..ya know. unless they assume you are abusing they have reasonl.
 
I would talk with a personal injury attorney. They will usually give you a free consultation, and if they take your case then they are usually only paid from the money you win in your case. While the doctor is under no obligation to renew his license, the standard of care was less than what should have been offered. There are three parts to a lawsuit: Was the doctor at fault, was the care less than standard (I think he at least should have given you a referral to someone who could have tapered you down), and what were your damages. The attorney will want to know what effects you suffered from receiving that poor medical care. Try to reconstruct a pain/withdrawal diary as best you can (don't pretend you wrote it at the time, just remember how it was). Did you have to miss work or school so that you lost money/credits?

I don't blame you for being angry. It sounds like a horrible situation. If you can find a new doctor, do it. And if you see an attorney, please let us know what he/she says. Good luck with everything!
 
I'm sorry but we cannot advise on legal matters.
 
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