Cashing In

Chapter 6

6

“John Brown,” said the nurse.

John got up from the waiting room and followed the woman into the doctor’s office.

“How are you feeling today?” asked the nurse.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s been really tough.”

“I’m going to take your vitals and then the doctor will be in to see you,” said the nurse.

John’s primary care physician recommended that he see Dr. Marten Williams. John did not know it at the time, but Dr. Williams would later lose his medical license and be sentenced to federal prison for running a pill-mill in Miami-Dade County. An investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration found that Dr. Williams prescribed ten times the recommended amount to his patients. He also failed to disclose that he was an advisor to three pharmaceutical companies and received bonuses based on his “performance” numbers.

Dr. Williams entered the room and said, “John, how are you? I’m Dr. Williams. I’ve seen your name around the hospital, but we’ve never met.”

“Nice to meet you, Doctor. Thanks for seeing me on such short notice. Sometimes I’m in a great deal of pain. I’ve been having a hard time standing up for long periods of time. It makes doing my job tough, as I’m walking around the hospital all day.”

“I’m here to help you manage the pain. How bad is it?” asked the doctor.

“It’s bad. My back tightens up, and I can’t move,” said John, wincing.

“How often does this happen?”

“At least three times a day.”

“I’m going to give you Oxycodone for the pain. We’re going to manage your dosage to make sure that it helps reduce your pain and enables you to do your job.”

“What dosage level? Is there any risk that I could become dependent on this drug? I have read some of the academic literature and had a few patients who became hooked after surgeries.”

“You’re in pain, John. This drug is safe. Do you have a history of addiction?”

“No, I don’t. I rarely ever drink, and I don’t use drugs.”

The doctor reached into a cabinet and pulled out boxes of samples with a pamphlet. “Take a look at some of the literature. It discusses the potential risks. As you’ll see, they’re very minimal. This drug has been put through the ringer. There have been many clinical trials.”

“I’ll take a look,” said John.

“We’ll manage your pain, John. If you need a lower dosage, we can reduce it. I want to see you back here in two weeks.”

“One last question, Doctor: can I do my job while using these pills?”

“Take them at night. It should help you. If needed, you can take one during the day. It shouldn’t interfere with your job performance.”

“Thanks, Doc. I just want to make sure. You know better than anybody, but my job requires me to make life and death decisions. I want to be sure that I’m not hazy or off my game.”

“This drug will help you reduce your pain and enable you to keep working. You don’t want to go on disability and be out of the game for months.”

“Thanks, Doc. My primary care doctor gave me a referral for physical therapy. I hope it helps decrease my back pain and increase my mobility.”

John left the office and went back to the hospital for rounds. He was finishing up seeing several patients when he received a page over the loudspeaker.

“Paging Dr. John Brown. Paging Dr. Brown. Please call 4344.”

John picked up the phone and said, “Dr. Brown here. What’s going on?”

“We have a sixty-year-old man who had a heart attack. He should be here in fifteen minutes. He’s your patient. We’ve paged the Cath Lab technicians.”

“I’ll head up to the Cath Lab very shortly.”

John started to walk and his back began to spasm. Why is this happening to me? I’m young, John thought to himself. He went into the bathroom and popped a few pills. The pills worked and enabled him to do his job. John managed to save the patient’s life while controlling his pain.