Broke My Contract by taking old medicine? please help!

Hello Vickie:I do not disagree with your points, in fact you highlight one of my biggest points in all this. When you sign that contract, if you are doing so because the doctor has put that contract between you and your meds, that alone nullifies that contract. You are signing under duress. Unfortunately it only becomes null and void in a court of law, not the doctors office. This is what I'm trying to get an angle on, making these contracts more patient friendly. As it is now, no contract no medicine. If you brake one little rule in that contract, you have to answer for it. What does the doctor have going on this. You can't deny the fact that these are one sided, the doctor has nothing to lose.
Last Thursday I broke my contract with my PCP. I did it on purpose because that's the only way I can get bits of information that can be used to even the score. We had it out in his office this morning, I won't go into details but in the end my contract has been rewritten and this time I was able to put one clause into the contract. That is what I call a step in the right direction. I made it clear that I wanted an emergency clause in the contract. If I have an emergency and need to double a dose, which is entirely safe as far as dosage goes, that I would have 48 hours to notify the office of the change. To be honest I didn't think he was going to go along at first, but in the end everyone agreed. I wouldn't advise anyone to try this, I am working on a lot of different methods to make this idiotic reality, fair, or as fair as it can be. To many people are getting screwed with these contracts, but with the right information on your side you can work with your doctor and come to compromises. Sometimes you just have to show them it can be done............

Hello Electrify,
I agree with the med rec. I have every copy on X-ray at hand and recently a CD all the cat scans, nuclear MRI etc. The doc was new as my doc retired, and all my records had not been forwarded to the new dr. Nor was the new docs in the same computer system.They were out of network. In this particular instance referred to in my last reply:above....I went to a doctor out of their system from my previous records on computer.
I signed the contract assuming all my current health records were reviewed. I sign a release to authorize transfer. They had the x- rays and last ER visit necessary for prescribing pain meds. Not a complete history of pain issues, no one told me the new doc was out of network. They had no access to my records. I assumed they did...
Also some hospitals charge so much per copy of records.
After hospitalization life support, weeks of rehab. Asked for a copy of the hospital records the fees added up.I reminded them that they are a non-profit hospital and I could not afford their fee for hundreds of copies. They waived the fee.
Other dr offices will foreword UR records to u no fee. Every system is different. The effort put in to help is only purely thru my experiences. I realize everyone's experience is different.

I wish u all the best in sorting this out. They should look at the set of circumstances even of he rule has been broken. The pain contracts cover a broad spectrum. There needs to be better definitions included for abuse of pain meds.
The first thing evaluate patients on record. put first time patients on notice, rather than rip the rug from underneath them. It can be overwhelming. Painting with a broad brush for pain contracts really only relieves med groups for their responsibility for making sensible choices. You did make a sensible choice under the circumstances from what I read.
Then there is the other side of the coin :Rules are rules per pain contract, it's all in the contract with no allowance for any infraction. We are forced to follow those rules due to those who abuse those drugs, as well as the many other reasons mentioned in replies from other contributions in the contract issue.
This is certainly a issue we could debate for .....?
It is to bad we are not given a opportunity to have a lawyer look over the contract before signing. It would be a consideration for med. groups to send out pain contracts for review before it becomes time critical...a 36-48 hr time line. How to make that happen???

My pain dr always encouraged me to try surgery to repair the nerve damage in my narrowing discs & vertebrae. She found a great back surgeon for me. Now I have some nerve pain occasionally, different area.
The surgeon did a great job removing the herniated discs & tissue pressing on the inside of my spine next to the nerves & by removing parts of the bone ( bone spurs ),relieving the pressure on the nerves in my spine. Laser was used to cauterize the tissue to prevent scar tissue build up. I was home in 2 days. The numbness & tingling went right away in my legs after years of pain. I can tie my shoes. That was a big deal! Micro surgery has less down time which due to advancements in this type of surgery,was not available until recently.
Let's hope u don't have to go to ER. That can be a red flag too. That is no solution only triggers more negative hoops to jump thru.

Just a thought ask the dr. To write and document how the contract was broken. A simple oversight to carry u thru. A review of UR circumstances? U can ask! It seems to be a innocent error in judgement when in UR situation. I know all too well. Under the circumstances u may find a solution. I don't know how much u take a day that is a concern just off meds cold turkey. I am worried for u & realize how scary this has become. There are so many like us who rely on pain meds.
I was free from taking pain meds after surgery & rehab. Slowly day by day. U were not given that choice. I believe there should be a warning period given so many get caught up in this mess leaving patients cut off from the very system they depend on.
Now that the Pain Clinics are involved the patient doctor relationship is gone. Treatments are changed to a whole other ball game. Doctors today see so many paitients in a short period of time. My dr. explained to me his patients are riding in a train with windows, blurred faces pass by within the system they must operate in today's system. All driven by so many variables.

Keep us posted.
(Peace & healing)

The purpose of the contract is to inform you of the conditions under which that doctor provides medical care. No doctor is required to care for any patient except for life-saving measures in emergencies. While severe pain may feel like an emergency to us, it isn't an imminent threat to life and therefore docs aren't required to treat it. The "contract" tells you under what circumstances the doctor will no longer treat you, so that if you have to be discharged you have been pre-warned and the doctor can't be considered legally to have abandoned you.

Doctors who continue to treat patients where there is any question of misuse of medications can face serious consequences, including loss of medical license, fines and even imprisonment. The whole sorry mess is caused by people who are addicts or irresponsible, and both the doctors and patients suffer because of it.

Once you are kicked out of a practice, it is to the doctors detriment to take you back. If you screw up, and under her care, her license is on the line. It is a matter of insurance. Try writing her a letter. The office manager wont take your call seriously, probably. If this doesn't work, try a large teaching hospital. They have more experience is different scenarios & maybe more likely to understand. If I were you, I would consult a lawyer. You must know someone with some legal knowledge that can advise you how to go forward and get the care you need. You aren't a convict, you made a mistake. Try the letter, and offer to be tested every time you walk in the door, so she is not in not in liable situation. If she works for someone, or something, then her job may be on the line too.

A patients medical records belong to the practice that took them. They are not the property of the patient. A patient can usually get copies of their medical records, often they are asked to pay a fee for copying. When medical records are transferred to another dr, there is no charge.

A Pain Contract is not a Legal Document.

Electrify, you said your dr amended/rewrote your Pain Contract. Did the dr amend/rewrite the Pain Contracts for all of his patients ?

Your Medical Records-
http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/medicalrecords.html