Pain patients say 'something is wrong' with Michigan's opioid laws

LANSING – Karlyn Beavers wakes up in pain every day.

Beavers, who has Crohn’s disease, takes pain medication so she can get work done around the house and spend time with her family.

Without the medication, she can't sleep and has no energy.

Beavers, like other Michiganders with chronic pain conditions, has seen her treatment routines altered by new state laws that restrict access to opioid medications.

She was among 40 chronic pain sufferers and advocates who rallied outside the statehouse Wednesday to urge legislators to rethink Michigan’s laws on prescribing prescription opioids.

"When something is wrong, it needs to be corrected," said Beavers, who is a member of the Don't Punish Pain organization.

Michigan lawmakers passed a series of laws in 2017 aimed at curbing the number of overdose deaths, which peaked that year at 2,686. 

Michigan’s reforms required doctors to counsel patients on opioids, limited prescriptions for acute pain to a seven-day supply, required doctors register with Michigan Automated Prescription System and to review patient history recorded there before issuing a prescription and mandated a bona fide relationship between the medical provider and patient.

This year, Michigan removed limits on opioid prescriptions for patients in hospice care. Advocates for pain patients say limits should be lifted for those with long-term conditions, as well. 

Rep. Cynthia Johnson, D-Detroit, said, because too many people abused the drugs, those with chronic pain conditions suffered. She said she has a degenerative joint condition and knows what pain patients are going through.

“This issue is so important,” Johnson said, at the rally. “I will help.”

Before adopting new regulations on opioids, Michigan and other states looked at a 2016 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guideline on when to use opioid medications, how much should be used, and how to assess risks. 

Beavers said states missed the part about those guidelines not being designed for people with long-term pain.

This April, the CDC backed off those recommendations and said in a statement that states had “misapplied” its guidance and put patients at risk. The CDC said states too broadly defined which patients should be affected, set hard limits on dosages and forced abrupt tapering or discontinuing of some patients’ medication, which the agency had not recommended.

Dr. Ned Canfield, a former Republican state representative from Sebewaing, said the regulations have had unintended consequences. Patients are finding barriers to getting medications for their pain, Canfield said, and doctors are wary of prescribing opioids, often avoiding them entirely.

Canfield said the Legislature should have a conversation about prescription opioid medications.

"Please don’t punish the pain patients," he said at the rally.

Rep. Julie Brixie, D-Meridian Township, said she’s heard from many people with pain conditions and how they've had issues getting medications. The state wants to protect patients, she said but still must recognize it is still dealing with the opioid epidemic.

"This is something we really need to look at," Brixie said.

Contact reporter Craig Lyons at 517-377-1047 or calyons@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @craigalyons.