Calling all Veterans-Denied Treatment at VA Pain Management Clinic

[ajspine]

I was denied treatment or even an appointment at the VA Pain clinic due to the fact that I am already on Pain Medication. Now I am fighting the VA for a referral to a civilian(non VA Provider) Pain Management Clinic. Are there any Veterans on this forum that have had to deal with the VA when it comes to Chronic pain and receiving treatment?
I had Cervical ADR surgery in Sept '13 and am still in pain. According to Neurosurgery they can no longer treat me due to their policy and basically shoved me out the door back to my PCP. He would not fill the medication they had me on and put me on another medication that does not work. I missed 3 days of work last week, I can't sleep more than 3/4 hours, no focus and am laying in bed crying. I am exhausted
My PCP went on Vacation so no hope of any meds that will actually work for me but his office is trying to get my referral processed to a local pain clinic. This new clinic also has me worried in that if I pay cash they will not write Rx. They must have a referral and voucher from the VA and all of my records. I let them know that I can provide the referral and all of my records but the voucher must be approved and that can take weeks. I cannot wait weeks for treatment.
I am going through absolute hell right now and my life is falling apart. I feel that VA doesn't care at all. If anyone has any suggestions and/or if you are a Vet can you please help me to navigate the VA and get the treatment I need??

[mmglobal]

AJ, I'm so sorry that you are not getting the help you need. As we discussed, IMHO, the way we treat our vets and their families is a national disgrace. I don't know any tricks for navigating the system. When dealing with spine patients, my heart sinks when I hear that worker's comp or the VA systems are involved. Like dealing with the insurance bureaucracy, we feel like we are tilting at windmills.

Good luck.

Mark

PS... have you tried calling your congresswoman's office?

[ajspine]

Hey Mark,
Thanks for the reply. I guess there aren't too many Vets on this board. I am active on another Board, HadIt.com, as in "We have HAD IT", it is a forum for Vets. But it is not specifically spine related as this one is.
Update: After Our conversation the other evening, the VA Medical Center's Patient Advocate gave me a call. He took down all of my information, looked up my records and forwarded everything to the VAMC's Chief of Staff for review. The Chief is my Dr's boss and the ONLY Dr that can fill meds for me while my Dr. is out sick or on Vaca. He asked me to please come to the VAMC Yesterday morning to meet with him and the Chief of Staff. This is a 2.5 hour drive, one way, and my pain is NOT controlled right now. We went but he had forgotten to tell me where to check in. So the front checkin desk told me to go to the ER.
This is where the degradation began. The nurse did not listen to me the first time and walked right out side my room to speak to the Dr. that didn't have the Balls to come and see me herself. he comes back and states that my meds were mailed out the day before. I told him again I was here for a med change and to see the Chief of staff, he walks out and I can hear the Dr talking, back in he comes to offer to admit me and give me a shot of Toradol and that no one can fill any meds for me because I am in a pain contract with my Dr. I asked him why the shot? And repeated again who I was there to see.
Finally they listen(or I made them angry) and make me ride in a wheel chair up the 5th floor Patient Advocates office and he was expecting me. The looks of disgust I received from the ER Staff had me in tears.
My patient advocate is amazing, he was already on the phone with the Chief of Staff and they asked me a few questions. 5 minutes later the Chief entered in enough of the pain medicine I was previously on(the one that actually works for me) to last a week, until my Dr. comes back from Vaca and called my Drs office set up an appointment for me at 2pm on Monday.
The VA Has put me through hell the past 12 days. I have had to take an incomplete in one of my Grad school courses due to this treatment. I have another phone appointment with the Patient Advocate today to make sure that my Fee Basis request for outside Pain and Rehab Medicine is approved and to talk with him about my letter to my Congressman. I should not have had to go all the way to the Chief of Staff for my pain medication, nor should I have had to make a 5 hour trip in order to fill it when there is a VA Pharmacy right here in the town I live. I am fed up and will be sharing this story with every Vet I know and if they have been through the same thing then we need to stand together and demand to be treated as individual cases and not disregarded because of a new Pain pill policy.
I apologize for the rant and I know that most everyone on here has their share of trouble when trying to get the medication they need in order to actually live their lives. We must stop letting the DEA act like they are the Medical Doctors of this country.

AJ

[Maria]

Can you take this public in some way? This is horrific! You serve your country and are made to suffer as a consequence? I think NOT! I'm sure there is an ear that is willing to listen (publically) should you want to take it there re the treatment you're not getting. Really you served this country and suffer the consequences but should suffer no more in the manner you're describing... that's horrendous.

Btw while I was a civilian I worked for the VA system as an RN in Cardiothoracic medicine and Neurosurgery (San Francisco) for a few years and while I found some things far superior to civilian medicine I know the "system" can bog things down even further because it is such a massive system to deal with.

Don't apologize for any rant here.. we all do it.. systems are systems and seem to leave the human out of the loop so often. I do hate to hear of nurses that don't listen or are part of the roadblock system. Having been on both sides of the bedrail I can say that being on the patient side who isn't being listened to is really just so demeaning and so unnecessary. This SHOULD NOT happen period!

There's got to be a way of effecting the change that you need.. I pray you find it ASAP~ Maria

[ajspine]

Hi Maria,
Thank you for your response. I am currently working on some ideas and pulling together and emailing this to quite a few of my Vet buddies, that know quite a few more, and so on, with the same problem. I am also starting my own website and FB page. Trying to set this up as a Non profit for Vets and then starting looking around for Donations to get an informative Documentary made about how Veterans are NOT treated for their chronic pain. I am going to start asking these other veterans to email me their stories or post them to the website once it is up. And of course we won't be able to use everyone but we will use as many vets as possible in the actual Doc.
This will take a long time and will be a painful road. But I am disgusted with the way Veterans are treated when it comes to pain. They throw drugs at me for everything else and they WAY OVER medicate PTSD but they under treat and under medicate severe chronic pain.
The last month of my life has been ruined and I hope with this new Dr. at the civilian Pain clinic I can get the help I need. I will keep everyone on here updated.
Thanks Maria and Mark,
AJ

[teg]

Hi AJ,

I don't come by here very often and just saw your post. I am a disabled veteran and received my rating from the VA in 1997. I do not use the VA medical services because I have the option of using my retiree benefits instead.

My local DAV was very helpful when I had to deal with the VA and getting my disability benefits. Have you had the chance to work with the DAV

Good luck and take care,


Thelma

[ajspine]

Hi Thelma,
I am so glad to hear from another Vet on here, Thank you for your service. I have not worked with the DAV before and I am not sure they could help when it comes to this, But I will give my local chapter a call this week. I do have an app with my VSO because they also took my Disability this month for a Debt I do not owe and have in writing that I do not owe them. It never ends end with the VA, if its not one thing it is something else. I am sick of just turning in paperwork and being ignored.
If you do not mind I will PM you with the details of my treatment and the new website and FB page that we are puling together. You can take a look once it is all up.
Thanks again and I will PM you soon.
AJ

[Espalda]

https://www.change.org/p/veteran-s-a...edium=copylink

I have just stumbled upon your site , I wish I could find a local group to join together and form a solid "One Voice against this Atrocity",

I am a female Veteran and have been denied my pain meds after being successfully functional for 8 years on pain management. I submitted a letter of complaint to the Hospital Director at VA Palo Alto, CA at the care I received at her Chronic Women’s Pain Clinic after only 1 visit. The Dr. refused to call me, e mail me, with any follow up treatment plan. Even after 9 months and patient advocates, nothing. A visit to a 2nd chronic pain Clinic resulted in a good pain treatment plan, until he started discussing the plan with The Health Care Team and I learned of the inflammatory uncooperative notes that were placed in my chart. I have been asked to leave the VAHC-I am 100% SC. At this point, I don’t know what to do. I firmly believe Cannabis and Opioids can alleviate pain/anxiety even tho I do not use Weed, once it becomes Federally legal, you betcha I will!
Please sign the petition-link at the top, maybe legislation can/will change....thats how I found your site and I will keep on looking for someone to help me fight on!