Why are pain management physicians under constant scrutiny by the DEA, to the point where these doctors are putting limits on care prescriptions for patients who really need them?
On a recent episode of The Daily Addict Podcast, our attorney explains why pain management physicians are often in a difficult situation when it comes to doing what’s best for their patients while also staying compliant with DEA regulations.
“Many physicians out there are unintentionally stepping outside of DEA regulations, and it’s unfortunate.”
Our federal criminal defense attorneys focuse exclusively on defending health care providers nationwide who are under investigation by the DEA and federal prosecutors.
On The Daily Addict, they explained to hosts “Dave and Tim” and pain patient advocate Claudia Merandi how pain management physicians need to be compliant and maintain heightened awareness when it comes to following rules and regulations.
Our attorney notes that the DEA “keeps changing the rules,” which is why health care practices should have regular compliance checks by a health care attorney who is well-versed on compliance and keeps up on new regulations.
In addition, they discuss the pressure tactics authorities use on pain management physicians and other licensed health care professionals to surrender their DEA registration.
“Even some of the most intelligent doctors I know, even Harvard-trained physicians, sign on that line and they give away their DEA registration.”
“The loss of a DEA registration is catastrophic for a physician. You’ll lose board privileges, the ability to be on a hospital panel, to be able to see patients at a hospital. It may lead to the loss of state licensure. It’ll be reported for a lifetime on the National Practitioners Data Bank.
On the podcast, they reviewed the roles of DEA agents and diversion investigators, how they team up with local law enforcement teams on raids, and how they identify “red flags.”
For example, if a pain management physician prescribes more pain medication (such as Oxycodone and Dilaudid) than any other doctors in their state, the DEA will come knocking.
In our experience, pain management physicians typically circumvent DEA scrutiny by putting up a self-imposed limitation on pain management procedures and prescriptions for patients.
“And that’s why a lot of pain patients aren’t getting the care that they need and deserve, because physicians are cutting themselves off on treating patients.”
“We call it ‘squeezing the balloon,’ where one provider is raided, you sort of squeeze the balloon, and then all those patients go to another provider, the DEA raids them, and then it continues on. And many physicians are wise to this fact … so they simply don’t want to touch the patients.”
There can be justice for physicians who do treat those patients. They bring up a case ours and another attorney helmed, where Caro, Michigan-based physician Joseph E. Oesterling, M.D., was being accused of running a “pill mill.”
Although Oesterling was acquitted, the government refused to release property and money they seized during its investigation. The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in Oesterling’s favor, returning some $6 million in assets to him.
Since Oesterling’s case, that particular prosecutor’s office has not prosecuted a single doctor’s office.
“The moral of the story is, when we get these doctors defenses, and we whip government around the courtroom, we will impact change.” “They will stop overzealously going after doctors who are just trying to treat their patients.”
Other things discussed on this edition of The Daily Addict include:
Claudia Merandi runs the Don’t Punish Pain Rally. Don’t Punish Pain Rally advocates for patients who live with chronic pain and seeks to educate the public about “the neglectful treatment of chronic pain patients due to the unwarranted enforcement of the CDC’s flawed guidelines” for prescribing opioid pain medication.
Daily Addict describes itself as a podcast “that covers the problems caused when the government wants to enforce drug laws on certain drugs. Creating a criminal class that cannot escape the stigma and persecution of this failed war on drugs. We seek truth and relate to the addiction community and the pain community. Both of which are under attack!”
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In “Physician Guide to Basic Compliance Concepts,” Chapman Law Group’s national healthcare compliance attorneys cover how to spot and avoid healthcare fraud, handling investigations and audits, and keeping your staff in the right.
The CDC Guidelines for prescribing controlled substances like opioids, and the DEA/DOJ investigations that follow, are putting physicians and their pain patients in a regulatory crunch.
The government claimed that property taken from Dr. Joseph Oesterling was derived from illegal activity, but the appellate court struck the argument down.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) office of diversion uses “red flag” indicators to determine which doctors should be the subject of increased scrutiny, undercover visits,
