Our Friend Beth

Hi Beth,
I know that you posted under another topic but I wanted to answer you here. Since it is a Suboxone issue that you are having. Or rather an issue with your Suboxone provider.
You asked the question about the requirements for prescribing Suboxone and also becoming an Addiction Specialist. To Qualify to prescribe suboxone a physician must meet certain requirements as we all know.
I went to the Suboxone manufacturers website to see what was said there. And will post it for you.

Qualifications:

According to DATA 2000, licensed physicians (MDs or DOs) are considered qualified to prescribe SUBOXONE, if at least 1 of the following criteria has been met:

Holds an addiction psychiatry subspecialty board certification from the American Board of Medical Specialties

Holds an addiction medicine certification from the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM)

Holds an addiction medicine subspecialty board certification from the American Osteopathic Association (AOA)

Completion of not less than 8 hours of authorized training on the treatment or management of opioid-dependent patients

Organizations currently authorized to provide training: American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, American Medical Association, AOA (through the American Osteopathic Academy of Addiction Medicine), American Psychiatric Association, and ASAM

Participation as an investigator in 1 or more clinical trials leading to the approval of SUBOXONE

Training or other such experience as determined by the physician's state medical licensing board

Training or other such experience as determined by the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services

In addition, physicians must satisfy BOTH of the following criteria:
Have the capacity to provide or to refer patients for necessary ancillary services, such as psychosocial therapy
Agree to treat no more than 30 patients at any one time in an individual or group practice
All of the above, including certification qualifications and training criteria, is described in more detail in the full text of DATA 2000.
Buprenorphine Training
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) encourages all physicians who are interested in treating opioid dependence—including those who already meet 1 or more of the qualifying criteria listed above—to participate in a DATA 2000 certification program before prescribing SUBOXONE.
You can read the rest of what is said on the manufacturers website at:
http://www.suboxone.com/hcp/certification/qualifications.aspx

I know it is all confusing. Even though it states that providers prescribing Suboxone are to be certified in addiction, it doesn't seem that they are. The way a lot of them treat their patients is horrible. They should not be allowed to leave a patient that has been in full compliance with treatment hanging without their medication.
Any doctor that does this should be and needs to be reported. They cannot be allowed to continue this type of treatment.
Until someone speaks up and does something about it, it will continue.
You will be in my prayers Beth,
Dee

Hello dearest Dee,
Sorry about posting in the wrong spot. I think that I started out to reply to the post & then started going off in my own direction. sorry..
Thank you very much for finding me the above information. It does show me that these doctors have to meet very little criteria in order to become a Suboxone provider. As some of us know first hand.. I know that many times that I've spoken with nurses or even the doctor himself with more knowledge on the Suboxone & addiction than they did themselves. I've given doctors who didn't even know that the RxAssistance Program existed all of the paperwork & sites that are available to the patients. Certainly not due to me being some expert on the topic, but I am the one who is living it. That's what I wish that they could understand... they have no worries about how I'm feeling throughout my days. They certainly don't lose any sleep at night wondering how Beth is doing today. Due to the fact that I just dropped her cold turkey off her meds & dismissed her as a patient due to a "racial" issue. This is even after I had run out of my meds & didn't have an appointment until the next evening, so the office girl told me to come into the office & asked me how many I needed. She gave me ten 10 mg Valiums out of her "own stash." Then, she's the one that turns all of this around & being the doctors daughter, who do you think he believes? It wasn't me, but he barely gave me a chance to reply as it was before hanging the phone up on me.
The next morning, I called their office & I explained that the dosages of the meds that I am taking are not meds that you can just abruptly stop. Side effects of the withdrawl can be death. They referred me to a "crisis center" where I could go detox. I don't plan on going off of my meds right now though, so that would be pointless. I just feel like I'm right back at square one & it sure is frustrating me to no end. The site that Deborah referred me to did have alot of information, yet it all still comes down to the point that I now have to find another new doctor. You know how I hate change & the doctors that I am calling don't want "transfer" patients. They want someone who is first starting out, not someone already stabilized on it for the length of time that I have been on it. It's all about the money, honey! I may just have to go in as a new patient, then once I am in there with the doctor, explain that I simply need a provider to write me the scripts. I'm already in counseling twice a week, as you already know, and that is by my choice. I don't have a doctor telling me that I have to be in counseling, but I am in hopes of a doctor understanding that I am already established with this counselor & that we do have a "working relationship" & that she could share my information with the doctor, if need be. I just don't want to be forced into sessions with a therapist that the doctor has on their payroll, as there are probably great therapists working in these such settings, but I have yet to come across any counselor like the one that I have now. So, I have to widen my search area & get myself a new doctor. I'm also in the meantime going to try taking 8 mgs of the Suboxone rather than the 16 mgs that I have currently been taking. Trying to buy myself more time, but I'll have to see how I react to that dosage. It may be way too quick of a taper for me, but I've made it on one a day before. I won't jeopordize my opiate maintenance though. If I have any problems whatsoever, I will go back up to my regular level. Or maybe try one and a half? I don't know. I'll have to see how I feel, but at the same time, I may not really know due to the benzo withdrawl as well. I just have to find a doctor.
I'm sorry to come on here & just go on & on about these issues when there are people like Lori who have made it through so much worse. It makes my fear & anxiety seem unwarranted when I imagine what hers must've been like. Im sorry, but I am scared! I have a counseling appointment a one today, so I have to go get myself put together so that I can make it there. Thanks for listening to my pettiness, as I'm trying so hard to keep it in perspective. I will talk with you soon, my friend!
Thank you.
Love,
B