Is a lawyer worth the money

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Oct 18, 2017

It might be a good idea to email an administrator and ask him or her to correct the typo in your thread title so that the meaning is more clear.

Also, we have a forum here called the "Nurses/Recovery" forum. You might be more likely to get good information by posting your question there.

Here is a link to that forum:

https://allnurses.com/nurses-recovery/

Good luck.

bjlr90 · Oct 18, 2017

Thanks Horseshoe, I am a fanatic about proper spelling and grammar. I think I will try to delete and repost on the link you suggested. Thank you for your input.

Editorial Team / Admin · Oct 19, 2017

Moved to Recovery forum. Success to you!

SpankedInPittsburgh, DNP, RN · Oct 19, 2017

What's the last hoop you think the lawyer could help with?

bjlr90 · Oct 19, 2017

I have to have another evaluation for something stupid that has nothing to do with my drug history. My concern is the evaluators are all affiliated with inpatient facilities I am afraid they are going to feel I should do more inpatient therapy. I had that problem when I had my first evaluation. My drug problem started with an injury and IPN would not take me till I had the surgery to fix it because that would still require narcotics. By the time I got into IPN I was clean 3 years. When I went for my initial eval hair, blood and urine were negative, needless to say. The recommendation was for me to do 8-12 weeks of inpatient therapy even though I had been clean. After long discussion I was able to do IOP and managed to get through almost five year contract until I came up positive for ETG. Needless to say I was floored but seems they have the upper hand. If they want to extend my contract that is fine, even though it costs me more money I have just accepted them as part of life anymore. My concern is, if they insist on more therapy for something I didn't do, I will have to be off work. I don't want to stick my co workers to work short handed and being off will put a burden to my income. Not to mention if I don't present with a positive drug screen, my insurance won't pay for treatment. I may be putting the cart before the horse but just trying to stay ahead.

PS GO Steelers, Go Pens and Raise the Jolley Roger

SpankedInPittsburgh, DNP, RN · Oct 19, 2017

Oh boy. A lawyer wouldn't hurt but remember you signed a contract with you monitoring folks. I think the only thing the lawyer can argue is weather the other side is violating the contract by demanding more treatment from you. Do I think this is fair or right? Of course not!!! However, I think that may be the reality of the situation. When you tested positive for ETG did you get a follow PETH test or other testing to challenge the validity of the positive thus making it a false positive. I believe here if I test positive I have to start the program all over. In other words I lose my job and have go to treatment....

I couldn't do it emotionally or financially. When I started this nonsense I was financially secure and had a bunch of sick leave I could draw from to keep getting paid. I simply could not afford to pay the fees and do the time PNAP demands. I'd have to get a job in another field, This would all be horrible for a false positive or even a relapse. If the rest of the treatment world doesn't treat relapse with punishment and career devastation why should we?

The false positive is my greatest fear. I can control not drinking or drugging of my own choice but not the accuracy of the testing nor ingesting something that would make me test positive unwittingly. I'm admittedly paranoid and don't even like to take an advil when I'm sick. I truly wish you the very best of luck!!!

catsmeow1972, BSN, RN · Oct 19, 2017

Do you have any idea what made the positive ETG? If you actually did relapse and drank, then yeah they do have the upper hand. If it's something else and like a lab error or contaminated sample or what have you than yeah a lawyer might be worth it. IMO opinion even if you did relapse, this far into it, forcing a full stop and restart with inpatient treatment and all seems a little overkill. A more honest redo might be a repeat of IOP and another year or two on the contract. 2 or 3 months of inpatient?? A Ridiculous money grab!!

This business about telling you to present with a positive drug screen in order to have insurance pay for inpatient treatment? That has got to be the biggest load of manure I've ever heard. However, considering the source that it is coming from, i am not surprised. (this is the voice of experience talking). I would clarify that with your insurance. It seems beyond the pale to tell you to go purposely relapse to get the insurance to pay. Also sounds a little like insurance fraud IMO.

In spite of IPN "forcing" their "approved" evaluators and babysitters, excuse me treatment facilities on us, I should think you could negotiate based on what your insurance will pay for.

SpankedInPittsburgh, DNP, RN · Oct 20, 2017

Just a random thought. I think is every Nurse got a lawyer and fought everything these vultures tried to do to them the system would crash and their would be reform. However, we are nurses and we believe and trust that these programs are designed to help us with a hint of compassion and caring as that is supposed to be our trademark. In reality it's kinda like Hansel & Gretel. We are lost / desperate and looking for something to cling to for help. What we get is a years long process that seems to attempt extort every dime that is possible for us. We are the kids in the pie

catsmeow1972, BSN, RN · Oct 20, 2017

Rehab is not necessarily a bad thing because the are people (and nurses) that benefit from it. Monitoring is not necessarily a bad thing because there are people (and nurses) that benefit from it. Rehab and monitoring for nurses is not necessarily a bad thing because society as a whole can and does benefit from it. My caveat is the body of a monitoring program is useful when and ONLY WHEN it is properly run.

Very sadly most, if not all of these programs are infected with Dollar-itis. This is a terrible infection that overwhelms the body to the point that there is no possible return to baseline. This infection acquires it's virulence in a heretofore unknown manner. It actually gets worse based on the outside sources of evaluators and treatment facilities which have their own variant strains of Dollar-itis. Heavy doses of lawyer therapy have helped in a very small population however this is a very expensive attempt at a cure and not always completely successful. Double blind studies using large doses of common sense has shown no efficacy what so ever. It appears that the only cure for Dollar-itis in the professional monitoring program is going to involve going back to the lab and engaging in genetic manipulation also known as legislative lobbying.

This is a very sad illness and it near fatally affects the financial security, family relationships, livelihoods and dignity of a large population of nurses and others with out actually infecting them. It is the goal of this organism to take in as many dollars as possible in as many ways as possible, hence the name of Dollar-itis. Within the cells of this organism it has been identified that the care-body is extremely small while the ethical reticulum is nonexistent.*

In many labs (states) there is work going on that is slowly attempting to make changes to the genetic structure of this inflammatory disease. Like cancer, perhaps there will one day be a cure.

*Y'all can tell I'm bored. I'm perusing my old biology book for entertainment. I really need a job. Ugh.

SpankedInPittsburgh, DNP, RN · Oct 20, 2017

Cats, a post of beauty & so true!!! I am immensely frustrated by the whole process and the only real cure to this sometimes fatal (too often) disease is to let it run its course. 2+ years and counting that is my only real salvation and cure. I suppose the shame for me is that I was in a form of recovery before I got involved in this monitoring program. I got a DUI and was remorseful. I went to an AA meeting everyday and got a sponsor and was doing fine for about 3 months. I was hopeful and thought this monitoring program would help more but its impact on my life has been devastating. I'll man up and get through this but the process hasn't changed me for the better. I'm a bitter and spiteful man now about this situation and that is not my nature. I hope to survive this process by simply hanging on and complying day to day. Have a great day!!!