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MtPockets

Very helpful member
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Messages
1,544
Reason
PALS
Diagnosis
05/2006
Country
US
State
Ms
City
Gulfport
I have been disabled for over 18 years due to nerve damage and chronic low back pain in my lower back. I have always been able to get the medicines I needed for this through my workers compensation coverage out of Alaska, where I was originally injured. I now live in Gulfport Mississippi where I had returned to see my back surgeon after the injury. So for all these years I have not had to pay for any of my back related medicines and treatments.

Last week I needed 5 prescriptions paid for by my workers comp worker and they were all turned down. The reason was the treating physican who has been seeing me for years had put the diagnosis right on each prescription as DX/ALS. After the prescriptions were rejected I talked with the doctors office several times and they said every visit I have had since I was DX with ALS May 11, 2006 has been written up as an ALS visit. Even though 90% of them were not ALS visits. They are apparently totally ignoring 18 years of back pain and nerve damage treatment.

So now workers compensation will not pay for any of the prescriptions. I have tried to get in to see the doctor and explain that 4 out of 5 of the prescriptions were back injury related and not ALS related, but he refused to see me again saying I needed to go to see a second neurologist for a another opinion?

I cannot afford the Rilutek and have no way to pay for it at this time. Does anyone know of a source that can help, such as a drug company or something?

This just about threw me off the edge when they told me this. My back pain has been getting worse all the time due to additional effects of the ALS, losing my legs etc. With the added stress of this it was just too much for me handle at one time.

My pain management doc has me scheduled for some back injections today to try to get some relief from the back pain, and he will bill workers Compensation without any problems. But this other Doctor is my family doctor for years, and he does not want to even discuss the issue and workers compensation will not let me change doctors again. This is sooooo frustrating.

Sorry to be so down, but this is a bummer. Any suggestions?

God Bless
Capt AL
 
I realize that since you have had this doctor for years and you probably don't want to cause any bad blood, but I think he started it. As a person who worked in this profession for many years, I would contact his superior, i.e. who ever is in charge of the medical organization he is working within in, probably a hospital. They need to correct his errors. If this does not help you, I would begin climbing the ladder all the way to the AMA. What he is doing is very wrong and just because he doesn't want to take the time to correct it, too bad. His office staff are actually the ones that take care of it anyway. Also, did you have a lawyer with your comp claim or someone in charge of that? Have these same medications been paid for by comp before?

You are going through enough as it is, how dare this uncaring doctor put you through more. Don't give up, call his office manager everyday if you have to! Leslie
 
Thanks Leslie,
He has his own practice. I thought it was illegal to put someone's DX on a prescription under the privacy of information act. Suppose I had AIDS instead of ALS?
Everyone at the drugstore would know it then.

They have never put a DX on a prescription before. It makes no sense that they did it this time to me?

I do still have a workers Comp lawyer on retainer that I may have to check with on this one. It just scares me that I might make the doctor ever more angry and he holds my future in his hands and knows it. It's scary.

I have a son who is a ER Doctor and I know when he came out of medical school 6 years ago he definitely had a change in attitude. A god complex. They actually teach them that in med school.

God Bless
Capt AL
 
I know it's scary to argue with your doctor. I have done that, held on to him even though I could have switched docs, and we are back on a good track. You can do that too. I read your other post and wanted to add that God also has encouraged us to fight for what is right, right? If we all sat back and let the wrong things happen, the world would be a very gloomy place.

So, please don't let your doc take away from you. You just plain don't deserve it. It's not difficult for him to fix, he just doesn't want to!

My mom takes Valium for muscle spasms and once, in 30 years, a doc wrote anxiety on her rx. We were definitely baffled by that.

I would bet that lawyer could help you out with how to handle this so that you can get the meds you need. Good luck!
 
My first response was anger, then depression, and finally after venting some on here, I'm back to God is in control of my life but I'm going to fight for what is right in this situation.

I'm going to give the doctor and me both time to calm down and then approach it the way I should have to start with. He may have just been having a bad day, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and go from there.

If I have to resort to the lawyer approach then I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Thanks for the response. I needed to hear what you had to say and it helped greatly.

God Bless
Capt AL
 
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