Not only did your newspaper make a rush to judgment (front page headlines above the fold on March 19) the local small and big box pharmacies have followed your lead and refuse to fill his prescriptions.
I would like to know if this is a conspiracy or mere coincidence. On March 22 Dr. Arrington wrote a prescription to me for an opiate for which I feel very thankful and fortunate to have been made available for the last 25 years due to a very painful debilitating progressive disease that will continue to painfully progress until I draw my last breath.
I pray that whoever made the decision to have the pharmacies not fill Dr. Arrington’s prescriptions would have to endure only half the withdrawal affects I am about to experience very shortly. Not even I would be cruel enough to have that person feel what I expect to be coming. That person has changed the war on drugs to include the war on patients.
At Costco a pharmacist after just seeing his name decided to withhold the prescription from me and was only returned while I was mentioning that it was my private property. She informed me if I would like to have a seat the DEA was expected shortly. After he arrived and had a discussion between two rows of shelved medications he emerged, introduced himself, and asked if I could be helped. After explaining my problem he looked at me and casually said “find a new doctor.” As of March 23 Dr. Arrington had been charged with nothing and yet perfectly legal prescriptions go unfilled because of a might have or a maybe did. Just find a new doctor!
There is an interesting article posted March 2, 2004, by NOVA dealing with a Dr. Dave Lounsbury, who is a physician and colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Corps who delves into the complex ethics of medical care in combat zone situations. With their allegiance to both the Hippocratic Oath and military guidelines sometimes in conflict how do combat doctors decide whom to treat?
“At its most challenging, it can leave physicians like myself and other military personnel feeling they’re serving two masters: Hippocrates and Uncle Sam. The one calls for treating whomever needs our help; the other, through the agency of the armed forces, has restrictions on whom we can and cannot take under our care.”
Which oath would you prefer to be cared for under? Unfortunately, the war on drugs has transitioned into the war on patients and now, the war on doctors.
Oath: a solemn promise, often invoking a divine witness, regarding one’s future action or behavior.
David Lohr is a resident of Ocean View.
My Turn opinions are those of the writer and not of West Hawaii Today