| night_shade |
| (Threadhead) |
| 01/15/04 04:31 PM |
 Re: Letters to the editor in response to previously post article, "Worried Pain Doctors Decry Prosecutions"
|
Quote:
The DEA does not investigate physicians merely for prescribing large volumes of narcotic drugs. It will, however, investigate when credible evidence indicates that a physician is prescribing in bulk outside established boundaries of legitimate medical practice set by his or her peers.
Second, Mr. Kaufman's story gave little explanation of the compelling reason why such investigations have become an enforcement priority for the DEA: Lives are at stake . The Post itself recently published a five-part series on the rapid growth of drug diversion and fraud it described as "creating a wide-open drug bazaar that endangers public health" [front page, Oct 19-24].
The DEA is committed to effective diversion enforcement and will continue to responsibly protect patients and communities from the costs of narcotics abuse.
KAREN P. TANDY
Administrator
Drug Enforcement Administration
Washington
I beg to differ. "Lives are at stake" ... YES! They ARE at stake. The lives and quality of those lives of many thousands of people who are undermedicated or unmedicated due to DEA intimidation of medical professionals. Medical PROFESSIONALS who undergo at least TEN years of post-secondary education to train in the practice of medicine. Medical professionals whose practice IS pain management. Those physicians who prescribe much larger quantities of controlled drugs than their "peers" who do not specialize in the treatment of chronic and intractable pain.
I have to wonder if the DEA's involvement in policing physicians is the direct result of the failure of the "war on Drugs" policy. Who better than licensed, highly visible medical DOCTORS who must register their practices, pass state medical board exams and keep full records of their medical practices available to any authority? A captive audience openly subject to scrutiny by any Joe-Schmoe wearing a DEA badge (with what--maybe an undergraduate degree hanging on his or her wall?) who feels they are an authority on the subject of "appropriate and correct prescribing practices?"
Yeah, lady (KAREN P. TANDY)...go tell it to one of the sheep in your department who bleats when you order them to. THIS citizen isn't just another of the flock!
