Pain Management Clinics aka Pill Mills

[AAP]

where you talkin abt bro? i heard the DEA raided several pain clinics in palm beach county a couple days ago

Some were because the doctor licensed to write scripts was not in the office and another doc was writing them off on his license. Even though the doc knew about it and let it slide.

Then some failed to give a patient an exam or request records.

But you get a licensed doc to do that, have an exam on the first visit and try to secure past records, you just covered your ass.

 

[pbhardbody]

wow that's a huge assumption there. How do you know everyone who patronizes pain management clinics don't need it or that medicating them would ruin their lives?

they all dont Rotten. But they do have a bad rep down here in FL. Some countys have a moratorium on letting any new ones in because they are so bad.

 

[HAYEZ]

wow that's a huge assumption there. How do you know everyone who patronizes pain management clinics don't need it or that medicating them would ruin their lives?

because ive delt with them and the people that use them for the past 13 years...and almost everyone i know that uses them has a serious pill problem that turns into a HEROIN problem...and they end up dead...i just had an hour conversation with a family member last night about our cousin that died using heroin which all started from the ease of getting pain pills from these clinics...

 

[pbhardbody]

Dude, they don't keep meds on the premises. All patients that come in have to have a script faxed to the pharmacy, they don't even give out paper scripts.

actually some of them do. here is an article about one:

Palm Beach County shuts down new pain clinic

and here is a snip from the article:

The county this week researched the opening of West Palm Medical Center, a cash-and-carry pain clinic that caters to out-of-state clients and advertises aggressively, and discovered the business was operating without a certificate of occupancy.

 

[pbhardbody]

Federal, local agents raid 3 Palm Beach County pain clinics

btw - this article is about the 2 brothers that you mentioned AAP

 

[chris302001]

You wouldn't do it for 14m a year?

negative.

 

[RottenWillow]

they all dont Rotten. But they do have a bad rep down here in FL. Some countys have a moratorium on letting any new ones in because they are so bad.

See the problem is that legitimate pain management medicine is getting confused with this new breed of questionable joints exploding all over your area. When you guys say "pain management" I'm thinking of real PM clinics like the one that helped my mother with the bodywide neuralgia she suffered for years after chemo.

 

[pbhardbody]

See the problem is that legitimate pain management medicine is getting confused with this new breed of questionable joints exploding all over your area. When you guys say "pain management" I'm thinking of real PM clinics like the one that helped my mother with the bodywide neuralgia she suffered for years after chemo.

yea I agree

 

[mrplunkey]

Damn they pull some fucking mega bucks.

Two brothers that are not even doctors were pulling in 14 million last year in this biz. All they did was get a location, business license, hire docs on a per patient basis and sit back.

(then fucked up trying to launder 40 million dollars offshore)

But seriously... seems to be big money in this biz.

Isn't it curious how they aren't cracking down on the explosive growth of these clinics?

You are witnessing the emerging social safety net in health care.

Picture this scenario: A 55-year old patient presents with chronic lower back pain and intermittent radiculopathy. He's 100 lbs overwieght and suffering from type II diabetes.

Case 1: Treat the patient with bracing and anti-inflammatories. Also discuss stretching and strengthening exercises for him. Tell him to lose 100 lbs. He won't do the exercises or lose the weight, so of course his condition worsens. He's going to bounce between chiropractors, FP's, neuro and ortho guys. Eventually he'll find a guy dying to cut him and he'll get a one or two-level fusion. The fusion will have less than a 50% success rate, so he'll keep bouncing between doctors forever when all he really needed to do was lose 100 lbs and exercise.

Case 2: He runs to his neighborhood pain clinic and picks-up a $200/month prescription for Oxycontin. He spends the next 20 years stoned and happy sitting on his couch drinking beer and snorting oxy's every evening.

Not only can you implement Case 2 at a dramatically lower cost -- it also produces a more satisfied patient.

Welcome to the new Medicare/Medicaid.

 

[pbhardbody]

Isn't it curious how they aren't cracking down on the explosive growth of these clinics?

You are witnessing the emerging social safety net in health care.

Picture this scenario: A 55-year old patient presents with chronic lower back pain and intermittent radiculopathy. He's 100 lbs overwieght and suffering from type II diabetes.

Case 1: Treat the patient with bracing and anti-inflammatories. Also discuss stretching and strengthening exercises for him. He won't do the exercises and as his condition worsens, he's going to bounce between chiropractors, FP's, neuro and ortho guys. Eventually he'll find a guy dying to cut him and he'll get a one or two-level fusion. The fusion will have less than a 50% success rate, so he'll keep bouncing between doctors forever when all he really needed to do was lose 100 lbs and exercise.

Case 2: He runs to his neighborhood pain clinic and picks-up a $200/month prescription for Oxycontin. He spends the next 20 years stoned and happy sitting on his couch drinking beer and snorting oxy's.

Not only can you implement Case 2 at a dramatically lower cost -- it also produces a more satisfied patient.

Welcome to the new Medicare.

actually according to the news, they are cracking down on them... at least in FL. of course there are 900 pain clinics in FL already so it took them long enough to get started huh