PATIENTS RIGHTS:
Through my months of research in many areas of Methadone distribution I have found that patients being given Methadone are not fully being told how dangerous this drug is. They are being misled on it's safety. The patient has the "RIGHT" to know how lethal this drug is and how many deaths have occurred in the last several years. The majority of doctors prescribing this drug have no clue of it's dangers and are dosing too high for initial onset of therapy and mixing with other drugs that may increase the potential for death. So which doctor do you trust with such an unstable drug, many say they can dose it safely. There are victims who have died from just one 10mg pill and nothing else in their system. What is a safe dose of this drug? Why would the medical community continue prescribing such a lethal drug? The FDA knows how deadly this drug is and all they have done is put out a warning that doctors are ignoring. Why is this drug not being taken off the market? Or, being restricted to just heroin replacement therapy, only? Most of the clinics are not detoxifying these patients but maintaining their addiction with a replacement that is a very addictive drug. All this information is being withheld from a person being put on Methadone whether it be for pain management or a clinic setting. A person should have the right to know these dangers before they are given this drug, but they are not properly informed.
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As a patient I am sure you are familiar with the right to privacy. In the last year most people had to sign an up dated Privacy Act at their local doctors office.
Patients Rights need to be rewritten to include many areas that we often are not familiar with such as:
1) Your right to receive or retrieve your medical records without cost. These records are often sent to another medical agency free of charge. Yet, most medical facilities will charge a patient a fee to copy their own medical records. The fees will vary but for the person on a limited income many may not be able to pay these requested charges. This may limit a person to keep up with what is going on with their own health care. Most people today have multiple doctors depending on their health care issues.so this makes it even more difficult for a patient to receive and maintain their own health care records. As a nurse myself and also a patient I have often found that the doctor documents very little of what you tell them in his assessment upon your visit with him. Leaving out certain statements given by a patient can be extremely critical in some cases. By allowing a patient to receive their own medical records free of charge would allow people to make sure that vital information is updated and accurate. This could include allergies, tolerance levels of treament and drug interactions. Unless you see your records yourself you have no clue what could be in there.
2) YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW, This is the most important RIGHT of all.
As a patient you should have the right to know if you are being given a drug or treatment that has caused serious trauma or death to any other patient. Then after you are informed as to all possibilities then the patient can make the decision to proceed with the possible consequences. There should be a waiver that must be signed by both the patient and the doctor. As it stands now we give too much trust to medical professionals and assume they would never put our life in jeopardy by giving us a drug or treament that may be life threatening. Because they are the "EXPERT" we do what they say and sometimes the end result can not be reversed.
On June 11, 2006 my 24 year old son died after being given Methadone for pain by a doctor who specializes in pain management. He died forty (40) hours after his first dose. The doctor nor the pharmacy (Walgreen's) ever informed my son that this drug was extremely unstable and easily can cause death. My son had the RIGHT to know and then make his own choice. Had he known how Methadone has caused thousands of deaths he would have never taken it. He actually called Walgreen's pharmacy to inquire about Methadone prior to filling the prescription and was still not informed of it's dangers. "HE HAD THE RIGHT TO KNOW" it could have saved his life.
3) Patients should not be treated as lab specimens. Quite often after a drug representative has visited a doctor he has left samples and written information about a drug his/her company manufactures. Suddenly many of the patients are receiving these samples for treatment of their symptoms. For some the drug may work well, for others side effects are overwhelming and sometimes devastating to the patients health. As weeks/months go by the doctor has self evaluated that this is an effective drug or there were to many complaints of ill effects. This practice is performed by the majority of doctors that we put our health and care into their hands. People are not aware that they are no more then a testing agent for doctors and drug companies. Most doctors have not had enough time to determine what is effective for what disorder other then a little literature and the feedback they receive from the people who have been their unknowingly test animal. "PATIENTS HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW". Yet, I can not see a doctor telling a patient "here is this new medication, I'm not sure if it really works but try it and let me know".
TO BE CONTINUED............