Long-time lurker here since my med school days and all through fellowship to now. I'm not a pain medicine physician, but I do see a lot of pain and MSK complaints. I'm personally very stingy with opioids and have really only used them for fractures. Just wanted to share my appreciation for this forum. It's often a significant point of contention when I don't prescribe patients opioids, the regular occurrence of which is professionally taxing. But then I read this thread and this forum and feel confident that I've made the right decision and that I have colleagues that are for responsible prescribing as well.
More germane to this thread, I had no idea this was a law in Alabama and I've been practicing here for over a year now. This does
NOT help the opioid epidemic issue, at all:
Charges against ex-doctor dismissed
"A Tuscaloosa judge has dismissed criminal charges against a former doctor accused of over-prescribing painkillers. James Fullerton Hooper, 70, was charged with five counts of trafficking opium and five counts of distribution of a controlled substance in June 2016. The Tuscaloosa County District Attorney’s Office asked that the cases be dismissed after Hooper’s attorney presented case law stating
a physician cannot be charged under the state’s drug trafficking and distribution laws for writing prescriptions. Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court Judge Al May dismissed the charges late Wednesday afternoon."