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Pain Clinics: Father shares story about daughter
Tuesday,
March 16, 2010
I read and re-read your article on the pain clinic problem here in Broward County and the proposed "ban" that Margate may impose on such establishments. Your article hits the nail on the head of several different aspects of our society today, and you pretty much cover all the freedoms we still have and all of the choices we are able to make with or without any government controls put in place to "save" us from our own self inflicted demise. Yes sir; gambling and alcohol addictions are horrible to accept and to try at times to overcome with all of the glamor and glitz that is paraded in front of all of us every day.
I read the report you linked in your article about gambling, and all of the statistics that were listed there about child abuse, child death, and more. It is just as horrible as anything regarding the pain pill clinics that anyone would want to read about. Needless to say, some of the tragic end results of any addiction can be and are quite horrible to cope and deal with.
As for the ban on ALL of the different entities you mentioned in your article; yes..let's ban them all. But wait..is that the American way? Is that what we want to live under? No. Liberals and conservatives alike do not want to totally do away with our Constitution, or at least I would argue that most do not. So the problem comes right back to the individual. Should I gamble, drink, or take drugs that I know up front may cause me, my family, or even my friends harm. The simple answer is of course, no. But we all know addictions are just that: things we crave or do to stem the tide of other problems we think we can hide under or from like, oh, say reality. I would be in favor of placing more undercover cops in ALL of the establishments to keep people from either hurting me or my family and friends. Reality? Not.
I do not reside in Margate, Oakland, Ft Lauderdale, Hollywood, or any other city that has these pain clinics as businesses in them. Am I in favor of closing everyone of them down? Do I want the so called "state licensed doctors" to be regulated and controlled by the laws already in place? Am I asking that people who run the bars stop serving the patrons before they become too drunk to even stand up and walk much less drive out of the parking lot? Do I want the casinos to better monitor their parking lots and even stop "allowing" people to gamble right down to their last penny? Yes Mitchell; Yes is my answer to all of the above questions. Is that rational or even possible to do? Highly doubtful. I have a personal stake in the pain clinic business here in South Florida.
I have a direct connection with one of those clinics located on Andrews Avenue. The 'doctor' treated a patient for pain who came in to him with an MRI of a knee injury. The pain was so great, or so it was told to the doctor, that he prescribed 100 oxycondone to the patient on Nov 11, 2008. That same patient came in one week later to see the same doctor ( the ONLY doctor at this location) and, complaining of pain in the knee again, a prescription for 80 Xanex was written out to help the patient sleep better at night, and filled at the drug store (how appropriate a name) right up the block. That same type of "visit" has been replayed thousands of times in what I am almost certain is all of the 'pain clinics' around South Florida. Are they legitimate businesses with employees and doctors making money and helping an already terrible economy in our area? I guess the answer to that depends on your own definition of legitimate business. I am going to assume that they pay taxes to the local, state, and federal governments for their right to operate their businesses. The same is true for the bars, hotels with bars, restaurants that serve fast food and/or alcohol, and casinos and race tracks too. Millions of people from young to very old have addictions to a lot of different 'vices' in our society. I am blessed that I am not one of those people, so the real fact remains in my mind.
Should these 'pain clinics' be banned? We all have to make choices in our lives every day; some of which will at times be very tragic in the end result. I know of one such person who made some choices that ended in a tragic turn of events. She was able to get the 'pain pills' over and over again and again without any problem or resistance. After going through 2 rehabs; she still went back to the same place almost 6 months after the one-week back to back visits in November 2008 that got her over 180 pills.
My daughter Danielle was 25 when she went back to the same 'doctor' and got yet another 2 prescriptions for pain pills. She came home at 10:30PM after we were unable to locate her in the previous 36 hours. She was on more pills, some of which we found in her purse that night. Even though I was angry at her latest decision to revert back to the same actions that had hurt her before, I at least got the chance to hug her, calm her down a bit, and tell her "I love you" as I closed the door to her room that Thursday night. We found her the next morning, May 8, 2009; curled up next to her bed on her knees; dead.
Everyone has a passion for something in life. Mine is to tell others her story, her life long story, and to tell them about all the choices we all have to make everyday. I believe in my heart that "my angel" is in heaven. I am a Christian and I believe in God and Jesus Christ. I want that same opportunity for everyone I meet and know. Close or ban the pain clinics? My vote would be yes. But it ultimately comes back to "Choices."
Keep Looking UP!
Sincerely;
Steve Hornsby
Vice President
Southeast Florida Electric, Inc.
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