A physician’s response to the PDMP audit of Dec. 2018

Today I submitted a fifteen page response to the members of the Oregon legislature and some of the major media outlets across Oregon regarding my thoughts on the Secretary of State’s audit of the PDMP program. I have been addressing the numerous errors and other problems associated with the program for years, yet no one really cared to listen. Now that they want to use the program to give private patient data to licensing boards and law enforcement for the perusal without official warrants or due cause, I believe the time has come for patients and providers to stand up against that blatant attempt to go “witch-hunting” for the providers who write higher-dose opioids or other medications that the state no longer approves of. The people working on the boards and the law enforcement agencies do not have any personal knowledge of the patient, their medical conditions, or any other contextual frame of reference to be making any type of informed decisions. All they have to go on is a number; is it above this number or that number, then let’s go after them with a warrantless investigation. “Guidelines” across the country have already been warped into perceived “laws” and have caused many providers to quit prescribing any controlled substances to their patients. This witch-hunting proposal will now cause many more providers to just quit prescribing any controlled substances to any patients because the “risks” are just too high. Until patients start stepping up to help their providers, they better start getting used to not getting any more of their medications. But the state really doesn’t care about patients, only money. Only maybe when some citizens tragically choose to make public suicidal demonstrations at government offices and more will they start to listen.