Mr. PiginPain sounds like my dad, you can call me Pig or just piginpain. I assure you I have been called far worse.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that to a small degree LE gets better meds and care in the ER. I think the problem you may be facing is the community that you are in. I have lived all over the U.S., and other countries, and I have come to the OPINION that doctors in a certain area seem to think alike in terms of treatment.

To answer your question, I have been a CP patient for almost 12 years now. The point is that working LE in my area is a very dangerous job and I am a Type- A personality with enough testosterone to float a battleship.

I always suggest to people that CP try visiting a different city on vacation and see what their ER is like. The ER can often set the tone for the local docs. Also, it is my PERSONAL experience that internal medicine docs make the best CP docs.

Also, can everyone back off on the whole "LE" thing, I am getting a bit tired of it. First, a "flak jacket" was worn by WWII pilots to prevent injury from anti-aircraft fire, police wear ballistic vests made from Kevlar. Second, SWAT teams are rarely, if ever, used for non-violent arrests like a doctor's office. Third, the feds and state narcs handle 99.9% of the doctor arrests. Us local boys just go along for backup. We are humans just like you. We have families, homes, and problems. Some of us don’t like the drug laws, others do. The problem is we swear a solemn oath to uphold the laws established by the people. I get so tired of people complaining about bad laws. If you don’t like a law, get it repealed. If you don’t know how or don’t believe it’s possible then PM so we can talk.

In closing let's consider something I have said since I started posting here. Generalizations are a dangerous and slippery slope unless used very carefully and with appropriate factual basis. Saying that "Non-police get treated differently" is a joke. I have had to repeatedly deal with lectures from doctors because LE has one of the highest substance abuse rates there is. Let me give you a glimpse of why...

We work MANDATORY overtime every week, as in "you are required by law to stay and work and if you make certain mistakes you go to jail and lose your job." We see gross and nasty things most people don't even have nightmares about. I have personally watched: A man burn to death 15 feet from his son (who beat the heck out of me trying to get to his dad). I had to help the coroner pull an entire dead family of five from a car including a 15 month old. I had to investigate the beating death, by a mom, of an 8 month old. I had to take the life of a fellow human being who was high on illegal drugs, pulled a weapon after I caught him in a foot pursuit, and was stupid enough to bring a knife to a gunfight. In fourteen years I have been taken to the ER 12 times for: fractured vertebrae, broken leg, broken arm, fractured cheek, broken tooth, three broken fingers, knife wound to leg, and because I went into shock after killing a guy and couldn’t stop shaking or crying.

I am a person like 90% of the people on this board. Just because I am LE doesn't mean that I get better drugs, more of them, or that I am a junky. I joined this board for the same reason I became a cop, I love to help people. And yet, since I joined this board 50% of the people here have attacked me solely for being LE, the rest have thanked me for clearing up the myths that abound around here. I also joined DB, as I told others in PM's, because I was tired of watching a small group of members, most seemed to be young and/or uneducated, cause fear and panic throughout this board by providing false information, spreading rumors, and giving BAD legal advise. I DEFINITELY MAKE MISTAKES, so I am not trying to say that all of my answers are correct, but I do have a few areas that I can provide decent information in. The key to everything you read here, EVERYTHING- CHECK IT YOURSELF OR DON’T TRUST IT. Even the brightest on this board make a goof every now and then.

Last piece of advice I will offer on the subject and this one should be posted across every board, wall, and email that is ever written.... IF ANYONE THAT IS A CP PATIENT IS BEING UNDER TREATED, HERE IS MY ADVICE ON HOW TO HANDLE IT... WRITE A LETTER TO YOUR LOCAL DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, TO THE DA HIM/HERSELF. TELLING THEM ABOUT YOUR CONDITION/DIAGNOSIS. TELL THEM THAT YOU DOCTOR IS AFRAID TO PRESCIBE WHATEVER MEDICINE IT IS THAT YOU NEED DUE TO FEAR OF CRIMINAL ACTION. SEND THEM A COPY OF YOUR TESTS AND MEDICAL RECORDS. THEN SEND A "CC" COPY TO THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, YOUR STATE MEDICAL LICENSEING BOARD, THE DEA, AND THE PHARMACY WHO DISPENSES FOR YOU. THEN GO BACK AND SHOW YOUR DOCTOR THAT YOU HAVE DONE THIS AND TELL THEM THAT YOU WANT A "DEA PAIN CONTRACT" FOR MEDICATION THAT ACTUALLY WORKS.

Sound silly??? It works. The doctor then becomes afraid of NOT treating you for pain. The new DEA and AMA guidelines push pain treatment. The AMA has recently even gone so far as to say that pain is an illness in and of its self. The problem is that most docs don't know how to, or want to, follow the guidelines. The DEA and AMA will respond with letters telling you that CP can be managed and giving you instructions on how. Take these to your doc and show them... Not a fool proof plan, but better than doing nothing and being in pain... This also gives you a record you can take to another pain doc if the first is unresponsive.

Just my thoughts. Intelligent replies, as 90% of you usually make, are definitely sought…. Just don’t reply with “my uncle’s brother’s cousin’s butcher’s hair stylist was arrested for doing just that.” LE can help with the process of CP mgmt, if it’s done right and there is a legitimate need. Just because I am LE doesn’t mean I get “free morphine” anytime I want, besides I prefer Dilaudid and they only give cops that after getting promoted to asst. chief or above LOL….