The Doctor Patient Forum

Why are pain patients treated like criminals, while people on Suboxone are celebrated as brave survivors?This isn’t just stigma, it’s a system. One that quietly rewrote the rules of who deserves compassion... and who gets discarded.In this video, we introduce a lens called Critical Drug Theory, based on Critical Theory, which helps explain how power, identity, and moral narratives shape public policy. It’s a way to understand why people with addiction are often seen as victims in need of care, while stable pain patients are labeled as privileged or problematic, even when both need medica...

Dr. Chad Kollas has spent more than two decades challenging myths and misinformation about opioids in pain care. In this episode, he joins us to break down the FDA’s latest opioid label changes, explain why they matter for patients, and share his perspective as a palliative care physician who has been on the frontlines of this debate since the early 2000s.

We talk about:

The significance of the FDA's new opioid label

The ethical failures of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in pain patients

How propaganda has shaped the narrative around op...

🎙️ Episode 56

Scored. Flagged. Medically Abandoned. Forgotten.
Unveiling NarxCare: The Hidden Scoring System in Your Medical Records

This is a rerelease of a 2022 podcast episode featuring attorney Jennifer D. Oliva.

In this powerful conversation, Bev Schechtman and Claudia Merandi of The Doctor Patient Forum sit down with Professor Oliva to expose the implications of NarxCare and Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) on patient care — particularly for those living with chronic pain.

They explore the secretive nature of risk-scoring algorithms, the lack of transparency in PDMP data, and the systemic discrimination embedded in thes...

In this conversation, Claudia, Bev, and Dr. Charles LeBaron discuss his experience with a severe painful illness. After he struggled accessing opioids, he started investigating CDC's opioid guidelines and their tragic result. LeBaron Bio For more than twenty-eight years, Charles LeBaron worked as a medical epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While there, he was the author of more than fifty scientific studies published in peer-reviewed journals, including first- or senior-author papers in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association. He was co-recipient of CDC’s Charles C. Sh...

Dr. David Alfery's Bio

Dr. David Alfery was raised in the North but moved to Louisiana to attend Tulane University where he graduated with a BA degree in English.  He then attended LSU Medical School in New Orleans.  After graduating, he took the Louisiana State Medical Licensing Exam where he received the highest grade out of approximately 400 new doctors from the three medical schools in the state.  He spent a year as a surgical intern at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky and then did his residency in anesthesia at the University of California in San Die...

The audio of this podcast was originally posted on 11/2/23. This is the video version. We are posting this again because one of the most common questions we get have to due with drug testing.

We often hear from pain patients who were dismissed from their doctor for failing their drug test. They say there is no way the test is right. Ed Brown gives some possible explanations.

Edward Brown's Bio:

Edward G. Brown is a chemistry expert with over twenty-five years of laboratory research experience, over 5 years of patent work experience and over...

Dr. Joe Parker is our guest. Listen to what led to his prison sentence.

Dr. Parker's Bio

Dr. Joseph Parker’s career spans the fields of science, military service, and medical practice. He has used his rare blend of scientific expertise, military leadership, and medical acumen to contribute significantly to the advancement of science and the betterment of human health and safety. He writes as an advocate for physicians and patients and for the humane treatment of those suffering from addiction and the incarcerated. His journey towards this impactful role began with fo...

Episode 51

Stigma Part 3 - "The Goal is to Force Taper Every Single Pain Patient Down to Zero"

We show using clips the disparity between how experts teach doctors to treat pain patients and how they teach doctors to treat people w SUD.

⁠If you missed part 1, here it is⁠

If you missed part 2, here it is

We took clips from the following videos/podcasts:

We used clips from the following links:

1. https://youtu.be/JjGfimiRZmk?si=CnrIAflx07hjwVV2 - Alyson Smith

2. https://youtu.be/_G...

Episode 50

We interview Kara Cook about her study about the Controlled Substance Act and unintended harms. Kara's brother-in-law, Darren, tragically lost his life at 40 years old due to lack of access to opioids. Kara Cook is concurrently a lecturer in the Department of Statistics and a doctoral candidate in the PhD program in Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the College of Public Health.  Her research interests include advancing our understanding of public health issues, with a primary focus on substance use disorder and its intersection with public policy.  She is interested in using statistical methodologies to gather evidence ab...

This is Part 2 of our stigma series. "Pain Patients Are Lying Manipulative Malingerers Who Need a Priest, Not a Doctor."

We show an addiction doctor discussing stigma in SUD patients, and compare what's happening to pain patients.

If you missed part 1, here it is:

We took clips from the following videos/podcasts:

1. May Arkansas Pain Community

2. MOC SUD Stigma

3. CDC Guidelines - Dr. Paul Coelho

4. Curbsiders Podcast - Dr. Daniel Clauw

5. AMDG Panel

6. Shatterproof and Pacira Lobbyist

7. Frank Sweeny...

Bev talks to Beth Steckler about the large amounts of patients who are newly abandoned in North Dakota.

A clinic's prescriber lost her ability to prescribe due to the Feds. This is a huge crisis happening nationwide.

Here is our previous podcast with Beth.

If you're a patient and lost your prescriber, here are some steps to take.

The Doctor Patient Forum is a national nonprofit organization fighting for the rights of pain patients and their providers. We bring awareness to the untreated pain and patient abandonment crisis. We are also...

We finally sat down with Dr. Mike from TikTok! His advice for chronic pain patient is invaluable!

Dr. Mike's TikTok @drmikethor

Michael Thorarinson, DNP, RN, FNP-BC received his Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and his Masters of Science in Nursing as a Family Nurse Practitioner at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He received his Doctorate in Nursing Practice at Gardner-Webb University. He provides primary care and pain management at our clinic in Southern Winston-Salem, NC.  He is extremely passionate about the training of new provid...

This is part 1 in our stigma series.

Brandy Novicka recently joined our team at The Doctor Patient Forum. Brandy is a resilient spinal advocate living with multiple conditions, including spina bifida occulta, scoliosis, rotoscoliosis, kyphosis, rotated rib cage, spondylolisthesis, spondylosis, pars defect, drop foot, SI joint dysfunction, DDD, nerve damage, and more. Despite undergoing extensive spinal fusions and coping with chronic pain, Brandy has defied the odds by pursuing her passion for fitness and athletics. A former college basketball player, high school basketball coach, and aspiring gym teacher, Brandy has transformed her experiences into a powerful advocacy...

If you would like to contact Jacob, please email him at: Jsullum@reason.com

Jacob Sullum is a senior editor at Reason magazine and a nationally syndicated columnist. He is the author of Saying Yes: In Defense of Drug Use (Tarcher/Penguin) and For Your Own Good: The Anti-Smoking Crusade and the Tyranny of Public Health (Free Press). He is writing a book about the parallels between drug control and gun control, to be published by Prometheus Books in 2025.

Sullum’s weekly syndicated column, distributed by Creators Syndicate, is carried by newspapers across the country, in...

Atty. Ron Champan's bio

Atty Ron Chapman’s trial background, health care experience, and strategic approach to litigation make him a highly sought-after health care defense and federal criminal defense attorney, by health care entities and practitioners nationally who are facing suspicion or charges of health care fraud, not maintaining DEA compliance, or unlawful prescribing.

A former prosecutor and recipient of an L.L.M. in health care, Ron’s specialization levels the playing field for clients facing government scrutiny in the health care and federal criminal defense arena. 

As a former prosecutor and veteran...

Dr. Stefan Kertesz' Bio:

Stefan Kertesz is a physician at the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Since 1996, Dr. Kertesz has focused his work on helping populations at high risk of receiving poor care, including people with pain whose care has changed a great deal in the wake of the US opioid crisis. He's certified in internal medicine and addiction medicine. Dr. Kertesz leads the only federally funded study that seeks to examine suicides occurring after prescription opioids are reduced in people with long-term pain. His team does this...

Here is Part 1 in case you missed it.

Dr. Henson was sent to prison for treating his patients' pain. This is part 2 of a two-part series with Dr. Henson.

This is Dr. Steven R. Henson, M.D. - Biography

"I have been a Career Physician working in the Emergency Room at a Level 1 Trauma Center. I was also the Executive Medical Director for the Nation’s second largest Air Medical Transport Company providing critical medical services to 16 states in both helicopters and airplanes. Think of this as a flying ICU. I trained nurses an...

Dr. Henson was sent to prison for treating his patients' pain. This is part 1 of a two-part series with Dr. Henson.

This is Dr. Steven R. Henson, M.D. - Biography

"I have been a Career Physician working in the Emergency Room at a Level 1 Trauma Center. I was also the Executive Medical Director for the Nation’s second largest Air Medical Transport Company providing critical medical services to 16 states in both helicopters and airplanes. Think of this as a flying ICU. I trained nurses and paramedics to function in this critical care environment.
Ad...

This is the 3rd and final part to our ORRP (Opioid Rapid Response Program) Series

This program is funded to help support abandoned pain patients after a law enforcement action. ⁠Here is Part 1⁠, in case you missed it. Here is Part 2.

We took clips from the following videos/podcasts for this podcast:

For the full list of all documents claiming ORRP exists and works, please go to our⁠ Patreon Page⁠

This is part 2 or our 3 part series on ORRP - Opioid Rapid Response Program. This program is funded to help support abandoned pain patients after a law enforcement action. Here is Part 1, in case you missed it.

We took clips from the following videos/podcasts for this podcast:

1. COSSUP - Jan 11, 2023

2. Senate Finance Committee - Oct 2019

3. National Opioid Summit 2020

4. APRO Award 2020

5. Cover 2 Resources Podcast

For the full list of all documents claiming ORRP exists and works, please go to our Patreon Page<...

We interview Dr. Stanton Peele and Zach Rhoads about addiction, Suboxone, pain patients, Harm Reduction, and more! You won't want to miss this episode.

Dr. Stanton Peele is a psychologist who has pioneered, among other things, the idea that addiction occurs with a range of experiences and recognition of natural recovery from addiction. He developed the Life Process Program for addiction. He has authored many books since the 1975 publication of Love and Addiction (co-authored by Archie Brodsky); his latest is A Scientific Life on the Edge: My Lonely Quest to Change How We See Addiction.

Zach...

We often hear from pain patients who were dismissed from their doctor for failing their drug test. They say there is no way the test is right. Ed Brown gives some possible explanations.

Edward Brown's Bio:

Edward G. Brown is a chemistry expert with over twenty-five years of laboratory research experience, over 5 years of patent work experience and over twenty years of experience assisting attorneys in chemistry cases as chemistry expert and expert witness.  His technical and academic background includes the following:

B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley;

If you missed part 1, please listen here. Kacey, a NC patient, recorded her appt with her doctor because he was dismissing her and she didn't know why. Listen to the recording of her appointment and then listen to Kacey explain how she felt when she was being treated this way.

This is part 2, which is a recording of her next appointment with a new pain doctor.

If you'd like to see the full video of this podcast - including before and after the show discussion, please go to ⁠patreon.com/thedoctorpatientforum⁠ The information in the podc...

Episode 35

What is ORRP? Do they help patients find continuity of care when patients lose their doctors? Why did they ban CPP advocates from their webinar with Project Echo?

The following links were mentioned:

ORRP - Pre-request for proposal

ORRP information on CDC's website

Cover2Resources- ORRP ARPO podcast

Please consider subscribing to our Patreon Page - ⁠https://www.patreon.com/thedoctorpatientforum⁠

The Doctor Patient Forum is a national non profit organization fighting for the rights of pain patients and...

Kacey, a NC patient, recorded her appt with her doctor because he was dismissing her and she didn't know why. Listen to the recording of her appointment and then listen to Kacey explain how she felt when she was being treated this way.

Here is the video where we discussed ORRP/Project Echo and how they banned us from their webinar If you'd like to see the full video of this podcast - including before and after the show discussion, please go to patreon.com/thedoctorpatientforum The information in the podcast is not to be considered medical...

Claudia and Bev interview Dennis James Capolongo. Dennis is a retired patient advocate and former director of the EDNC in Washington DC. His 25 year career as a photojournalist came to an abrupt end after having been misdiagnosed with a disc herniation for minor hip pain in 2001. Unfortunately this led to a calamity of errors resulting in two subdural epidural steroid injections using Pfizer's DepoMedrol, an off-label, unapproved application of particulate steroid suspensions. He suffered progressive irreparable harm to his brain, spinal cord and eyes. His efforts at the FDA resulted in new warnings & revisions for all injectable steroids worldwide...

Netflix released another nonsense series about the Sacklers called Painkiller. Cameron English, a journalist from ACSH, published an amazing article calling them out on their lies. Cameron breaks it down for us.

Cameron's links:

Twitter @camjenglish

Podcast: Science Facts & Fallacies

If you'd like to see the video of this episode including before and after the podcast discussion, please go to our Patreon page -

The Doctor Patient Forum Patreon : patreon.com/thedoctorpatientforum

Disclaimer: The information that has been provided to you...

It's hard to believe it's been an entire year since we launched our podcast. In that year, we've had over 20,000 listens! We are so grateful to everyone who listens and supports us.

This is Part 2 of a look back at every episode.

The link to our Patreon page is ⁠patreon.com/thedoctorpatientforum⁠

Disclaimer: The information in this podcast is not to be considered medical or legal advice

It's hard to believe it's been an entire year since we launched our podcast. In that year, we've had over 20,000 listens! We are so grateful to everyone who listens and supports us.

This is Part 1 of a look back at every episode.

The link to our Patreon page is patreon.com/thedoctorpatientforum

Disclaimer: The information in this podcast is not to be considered medical or legal advice

Listen to Claudia and Bev discuss how The Doctor Patient Forum began and where we go from here.

Some things DPF is working on:

If DPF has ever helped you in any way, please consider donating. Even $1 per month helps! We need funding to take the next step in effecting change.

Marissa Cors is a fierce Sickle Cell Disease advocate. She is a 5th generation SCD Warrior and her family has a non profit called Axis Advocacy.

We first heard about Marissa when one of her Tik Tok videos went viral about a SCD patient, Brittany. Brittany was horribly mistreated, and recorded her mistreatment. Brittany sadly lost her life to SCD. Marissa was her advocate. Marissa's Tik Tok channel is called ⁠Escaping Sickle Cell Hell⁠.

The clips from Brittany's ER experience can be heard in their entirety ⁠here⁠.

Marissa's Twitter account is here

<...

Dr. Carl Hart was a guest on our podcast earlier this year. Here is the link to the episode, in case you missed it.

Dr. Hart contacted us last week with some very exciting news! He asked us to help him co-edit a medical journal. This is such a huge opportunity and we are grateful we will be able to bring attention to the suffering of CPP's.

Dr. Jay Joshi recently released his book, Burden of Pain. Dr. Joshi is a Primary Care Physician and spent almost a year behind bars after an undercover DEA agent went to his office.

"Dr. Joshi writes regularly on his website, Daily Remedy (www.daily-remedy.com), a trusted source of editorialized healthcare content for both patients and healthcare policy experts. He has published articles on a variety of healthcare topics in both peer-reviewed journals and trade publications. His legal writings include amicus curiae briefs prepared for prominent federal healthcare cases like the Supreme Court case, Ruan v. United ...

Claudia and Bev explain the OPAL Study that just came out of Australia.

This link from our website contains all of the up-to-date information and all of the links we mention in this episode. We are planning on doing a follow-up podcast episode with Dr. Chad Kollas, from DPF Board.

Links to audio clips in this episode:

ABC Australia news clip

Clip about long-acting med - Launch of the Opioid Analgesic Stewardship in Acute Pain Clinical Care Standard

Second clip about long-acting med - A discussion...

Claudia and Bev interview Pharmacist Matt from Tik Tok.

In case you missed our first episode with Matt, here is the link.

Claudia, Matt, and Bev address the drug shortages. Bev interviews a patient who has been affected by this and reads posts from The Doctor Patient Forum Facebook page.

Matt is a community pharmacist who works at a local independent pharmacy.

His goal with Tik Tok is to basically give a virtual consultation. A window to the world bringing pharmacy specific information to the world. Along with ⁠Ti...

Claudia and Bev interview the amazing advocate, Beth Steckler. Her husband had a disease called PRSS1, and both of their children inherited it. Her daughter had a whipple procedure when she was just in first grade. Both of her children have been horribly abused in the health care system, which isn't uncommon in these days of opioid elimination.

Listen to Beth discuss the heartbreaking abuse her children continue to endure.

Beth's Twitter account - @purplemamabear

The name of the org that Beth helped to create - National Childhood...

This is part 2 of our interview with Dr. Josh Bloom.

Here is part 1, in case you missed it.

In this podcast, we discuss Tylenol for post-op pain. Is it actually as good as opioids? We interview a pain patient who was offered Tylenol only for breast cancer surgery.

We also discuss suicide due to pain.

Links discussed in this episode

Listen to part 1 of DPF's interview with Dr. Josh Bloom. Why are so many pain patients put on Gabapentin? Does it work? Why are so many being prescribed Gabapentin all of a sudden? What are some of the possible side effects? Listen to some patient stories about Gabapentin. Stay tuned for Part 2 with Josh Bloom. Josh Bloom's bio: "Director of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Dr. Josh Bloom earned a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Virginia, followed by postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania.He worked for more than two decades as a research chemist for...

We are very excited to announce that DPF will be launching a Patreon page very soon!

What does this mean for everything we have offered like our website, podcast, and social media pages?

Everything will stay the same! We will continue to publish our regular DPF podcasts, our FB groups will all remain the same, and we are working on an updated website as we speak. Patreon will be an addition to what DPF offers.

What will be on the DPF Patreon page?

Some of...

Claudia and Bev discuss the updated CDC Guidelines with Dr. Sarah from Maryland. They answer the following questions:

Links from discussion: