A California bill would prohibit insurers from requiring patients to "try and fail" on more than two medications before receiving a pain medication prescription from their physician, according to a KPBS radio report.
Insurance companies can currently require patients with chronic pain to try up to five drugs before a physician can prescribe painkillers — a policy that pain management physicians say delays patient relief.
"It's incredibly frustrating to both myself, and more so to the patients, because they come to see me, they wait to see me," said Michael Verdolin, MD, a pain medicine specialist in Chula Vista. "Once they've seen me, I make a prescription, only to have that aspect of things practically second-guessed by an insurance company."
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Insurance companies can currently require patients with chronic pain to try up to five drugs before a physician can prescribe painkillers — a policy that pain management physicians say delays patient relief.
"It's incredibly frustrating to both myself, and more so to the patients, because they come to see me, they wait to see me," said Michael Verdolin, MD, a pain medicine specialist in Chula Vista. "Once they've seen me, I make a prescription, only to have that aspect of things practically second-guessed by an insurance company."
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