(Snippets from the frontline)
COVID-19: A perfect storm
It’s a perfect storm. A pandemic colliding with the opioid crisis.
We are told to shelter in place, yet for patients under Pain Management, they must sustain narcotic medication for fear of going through withdrawal.
DEA rules require patients have a “face-to-face” visit with their doctor in order to receive their special security prescription. What if your physician’s office is closed, has diminshed hours, or you are afraid to leave home worrying about viral exposure?
Twenty percent of my patients are bedridden, many with illness or catastrophic accidents resulting in faulty nervous systems. Lucky for now, I do house calls, but what if these visits become restricted? What about those who don’t have a house call doctor?
Sure, I can do telemedicine using FaceTime or Skype, but according to the law (correct me if I’m wrong), the “face-to-face” must be “in-person.”
This is a time to relax the laws for a few months.
I still fear the mega-storm…when adding to these problems is disruption in the medication supply chain causing shortages.
Then, we will all go through withdrawal.
Gene Uzawa Dorio, M.D.
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