Thanks for the article. My take on it is that Dr. Tennant is referring low-income patients, or patients without health insurance, to federally subsidized, probably state subsidized, too, clinics, in order for them to get methadone free. Also patients who can't find a doctor willing to prescribe methadone in their home town. His patients are eligible under federal law, because they will suffer withdrawal without methadone. However, as we all know, the clinics were not intended to treat pain patients, they were intended to keep addicts from engaging in criminal acts to support their habits. Weird world, isn't it?
>>>>>According to Dr. Forest Tennant, a California physician who operates a number of methadone maintenance treatment programs in Califomia, chronic pain patients are gaining admittance to methadone maintenance programs not because they are addicts, but only for pain management. The apparent reason is that these patients lack either access to other programs or physicians who are willing to use opioid analgesics, especially in high doses.
Methadone programs (officially known as narcotic treatment programs [NTPs]) are specially registered with the federal and state govemments as the only lawful means of using opioids for the maintenance treatment of opioid dependence, or addiction. However, opioid analgesics, including methadone, may be prescribed for patients with pain, including intractable pain, by any physician who can prescribe controlled substances.<<<<< |
