adm6290

I was so heartened to read your post. In the medical field of all places, we should understand the devastating nature of addiction. No, it does not make the behavior okay but these people are SICK not bad. I know 2 recovering addicts who did many of these behaviors everyone is discussing. They were very ill and very ashamed. They are now 2 of the best, most caring and empathetic nurses I have ever seen. what do they do when you have a patient who is an addict? I hope you treat them as Ill as opposed to the attitudes that are being displayed here. yes, nurses in active addiction need to be removed from patient care. However, how about an attitude of healing and recovery as opposed to condemnation?

Absolutely, turn her in. The patients do not need to suffer. However, as a nurse in recovery, I ask you all to abstain from judgement. She is very ill and probably very ashamed. Not excusing what she is doing but always remember that addicts are Ill not bad. This is a mantra for patients and co workers.

I suggest waiting until the second interview. Be brief, focus on your recovery, what you've learned and how it will improve your empathy and care for patients.

I am so sorry this happened to you. The same thing happened to me almost verbatim. It is complete BS and a totally discriminatory practice against alcoholics and addicts. I do not know what DC genius thought it was appropriate to add sick individuals to a list that was intended for providers intentionally defrauding the government. Pretty back ass reasoning. regardless, I got off the list. My company held my job for 90 days. I suggest getting a lawyer (one that has done this before) to help you expedite. Yes, it is expensive, but it is the only way to get your life back (because no one in the government gives 3 ***** about all the lives their ruining with this practice).

I know this post was a while back, but you DO NOT have to get your license back to be removed. I went through the same thing. The nursing boards will have you believe that because we are a huge money maker for them, but you don't. I got off the list with a good lawyer and no license.

I am surprised you are not on it. Count your blessings! Just keep an eye on the mail in case something comes from the oig so you can contest it up front

I see this is an old post, but I agree with you. I too reached out to the ACLU, and they could not have cared less. I suppose our "class" is not as interesting as other illnesses or minorities. You summarized exactly what I have been saying. With the thousands of us that have been affected by this, it is insane that no one will bother to examine how grossly this list has moved from its intent and effectively become a published list of health care providers who suffer from addiction. (90% of the list) not only can you not work as a nurse, you can't work in a doctors office as a secretary or a hospital as a freaking janitor. You can't work for companies who peripherally work with healthcare as suppliers. Basically anything that a healthcare professional would have the experience to do. i finally got off the list with a really good lawyer, but the damage it caused for years is still there AND I lost any anonymity that a recovering person should be afforded by this very public list

Although I see that this is an old post, I wanted to comment because this issue will continue to come up. First I wanted to reply to what foraneman said above. Although it is possible this is not intended to be punitive in the beginning that is what it is turned out to be. Not having a license should keep you from working as a nurse you do not need the added layer of being on this federal "BlackList" on top of that. Implications on being on this list are incredible. I learned firsthand after having a job offer being rescinded to work at an insurance company. Two years later I was working as a surgical sales representative and lost my job because of being on this list. Even though we did not accept Medicare /Medicaid payment and I wasn't working as a nurse. Luckily I was doing such a good job that they gave me a few months to get a lawyer to work to get off this list. Don't even bother going through the boards, they will have you believe that the only way to get out this list is to get your license back. If you're like me I had moved past working as a nurse but still wanted to continue to work in healthcare and some capacity. But for a while I was told the only way was to work to get my license back and then petition the OIG for removal. Why should I be forced to get a license back to get off the list that I shouldn't have been on in the first place? I never had legal action taken against me. I never defrauded the government. I have a disease. I can think of no other illness were people would allow the folks that suffer from an illness to be placed on a list that effectively bars them from working in an entire industry. It is draconian. I hope that sometime in the future someone will be willing to examine this and quit allowing drug addicts and alcoholics to be placed on such a horrible list simply because no one really cares about this illness. Addicts and alcoholics make up the majority of this list. This was not the original intent of this list to begin with, but the addition of alcoholics and addicts with disciplinary action helps them justify the list and say "look how good were doing, look how many bad people we have caught" they do not tell you about this when you are going through disciplinary hearings, the first I heard of it was a letter, months after the fact and I did not understand the ramifications at the time. if you are on it and can afford to, get a lawyer. You will have a hard time finding one that knows much about this but they are out there. You can get off the list even if you do not have your license back, I did. If you can't afford a lawyer, harass your congressman. Do NOT expect your board or a representative of your board to help, they are In on this scam. i would very much like to see a class action lawsuit brought up on behalf of those of us who are ill and have had such negative ramifications in our life AFTER finding sobriety because of this list. Let's get this list back to the spirit in which it was intended (people who defrauded the government) and away from targeting the ill!

I have very strong feelings about this OIG exclusion list and it's far reaching ramifications. Including nurses who have lost or surrendered their licenses due to substance abuse is DRACONIAN. First, the boards do not inform you that this is a consequence and they are dishonest about the ways to get off of it. This list was created in 1980 as a punitive and security measure against practioners who had DELIBERATELY defrauded the Medicare or Medicaid system-i.e. felons. In the balanced budget act of 1997 they included every health care practioner who had ever lost or surrendered their license regardless of the reason. Obviously the biggest percentage of lost or surrendered licenses are directly related to substance abuse issues. Substance abuse and addiction is an illness and is recognized as such by the AMA. Just by default the inclusion of such individuals on a list (as long as they have not committed medicare or medicaid fraud) is prejudicial. Many of the people who fall into this category do not even know they are on the list. I surrendered my license in 2004 and did not find out I was on this lst until 2007 when I was denied employment at a health insurance company. As long as you are on this list you can not work for any entity who accepts medicare or medicaid in ANY capacity. You can get off this list without getting your license back, it takes a lot of work and a good lawyer but it can be done. I hope that one day someone who "matters" will see the inclusion of sick people on this list as inherently wrong but until that day, get in recovery, decide what path you want to take and contact an attorney who has dealt with this before.

http://www.petition2congress.com/2/2404/government-discrimination-against-recovering-addicts-alcoholics/ I am posting this link to everyone who has been affected by this draconian list. It is a petition, forward it to your friends, family, anyone you can think of and forward it to your representatives. Let's END this draconian practice of ruining sick people's lives.

Quite frankly I would like to see some unification among those of us insimilar situations, barred from an entire industry becausen of a disease. it should NEVER have been allowed and and I am in the process of searching out lawyers willing to take the case on violation of ada. Ifanyone has these tyoes of connections or isinterested in doing more to keep the government form ruining diseaseed individuals lives, please e mail me or send a pm. I would love to brain storm.

I have received the packet from the OIG to be removed from the exclusion list. Before getting this, i sent the letters from sponsor, friends, famil and the director of a halfway house where i completed six months of treatment. The application has them contacting past and previous employers. Can you imagine if your employer got a call from the OIG?! That issue there would have your job lost. I offered to submit a hair sample in lieu as well as access to my addictionologist, but they insists the only way for removal is to contact employers. My point is that it is an extremely punitive and big brother like to put people on this list, especially non-felonious, and no issues with defrauding the government, simply a disease. UNBELIEVABLE that our government has this kind a capacity to ruin lives of sick and recovering individuals.

Actually, I must disagree with the above response, that is "it only makes sense to be on the exclsuoin list as payments are directly related to your license". This is not true as the scope and span of this exclusion list reaches much farther than that. First and foremost, as a recovering addict who lost her license due to addiction, I was not told about this list. The ADA makes it illegal for any employer to ban a recovering addict from employment, yet when the balanced budget act was passed in 1997, they included all heath care professionals who had lost their license regardless of the reason, effectively barring them from an entire industry. To find yourself on a list that was initially creayed for individuals who intentionally and feloniously defrauded the government because of an illness IS DRACONIAN. I can not work in a physician's office (in any capacity) would not be able to work in a hospital as a JANITOR, nor for any pharmaceuitcal or insurance company. Point being, you are barred from working ina an entire industry even in positions where it is not necessary to have a license. Furthermore, I may not want my license back, but I find it completely irrational that the governement can be this punitive to sick individuals as a way to impose fines and collect money. I have NEVER been in trouble legally, yet now anytime a background check for employment is run on me, this pops up as a big, electronic "scarlet a" and they assume that I must have done something really bad and am subsequently denied employment. To any of you who think this is fair or reasonable, you may want to re-think your position. NO OTHER industry has this kind of repurcussions for a lost license. This is literally ruining lives and making people lose hope. I beg ANY of you who have been affected by this, contact your senators, congressman, and whoever else will listen. It is prejudicial and ruining lives