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Pot smoker sues for getting dismissed from pain management center
9/8/2008 10:29 AM By Kelly Holleran 

A Putnam County man has filed suit against a doctor and health center, alleging they refused to give him pain medication and dismissed him as a patient after finding marijuana in his system.

Ronald Sprouse claims Family Care Health Center, office manager Janice Amburgey and Dr. Larry Beker dismissed him as a patient after they said he failed to meet requirements in a pain management agreement.

Sprouse tested positive for cannabinoid on June 13 and was then dismissed, according to the lawsuit filed Sept. 3 in Putnam County Circuit Court.

He admits in the complaint he does smoke marijuana to treat symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

"In addition the Plaintiff asserts that many medications have been used in the past to attempt to treat his disorder without success," the suit states. "Only the use of marijuana has proven effective to control the Plaintiff's disorder."

When he does not smoke marijuana, Sprouse claims he becomes violent toward his family and does not leave his house in fear of how he will react toward others in society.

"Unless properly medicated the Plaintiff cannot sleep, has night sweats, and bouts of deep depression," the suit states.

In the pain management agreement Sprouse signed, a line states, "Unannounced urine or serum toxicology screens may be requested, and your cooperation is required. Presence of unauthorized substances (legal or illegal) will result in discharge from the practice."

Sprouse contends the clause is invalid because Family Care neglected to tell him or provide a list of what it considers unauthorized substances.

"Without such a list the Plaintiff had no way of knowing what Family Care considered to be legal or illegal unauthorized substances," the suit states.

Sprouse also claims he was forced to sign the document. If he did not, he would not have been treated, he claims.

"In this case the Plaintiff was forced to sign the Pain Management Agreement or live a life in constant pain with no medication," the complaint states.

Sprouse claims he did not violate the agreement out of malfeasance, but because of medical necessity.

"Family Care was not authorized to prescribe the medication needed to alleviate his serious medical condition, not is any medical professional in the state of West Virginia," the complaint states. "In order to preserve his health, mental stability, and the safety of his family and others, the Plaintiff was forced to medicate himself."

Sprouse is seeking a judgment against Family Care Health Center that would allow him to continue treatment at the center and that would prevent the center from placing any negative comments or documents in Sprouse's medical file that would inhibit other health care professionals from prescribing him medication.

He is also seeking court costs.

He has requested a jury trial.

Sprouse is representing himself.

Putnam County Circuit Court case number: 08-C-294.

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Comments on this article

  • Don't blame the doc

    Doctors are arrested and indicted for knowingly prescribing opioids to patients who use illegal drugs. It isn't the doctor's fault marijuana is illegal. By the way, heroin DOES show up differently and can be figured out from drug tests. Anyway, the DEA would arrest the doc for allowing the MJ, and now the patient sues the doc. It sucks to be a pain doc. BTW, how can the plaintiff claim that he didn't know marijuana was illegal?

    by Another pain doc who fears the DEA

    url:

  • I agree with Johnny Doe

    Drug testing is by far the biggest abuse of power ever allowed by the us government. The fifth amendment protects against self incrimination with the exception of drug testing. you may be forced into drug testing, or required to "volunteer" to be screened or lose your income, or freedom, or healthcare, etc. Why is it ok to trample on the 5th amendment when it comes to drugs?

    by Mike Wills

    url: http://www.the-recovered-truth.org

  • pot smoker

    Well, if the docs wont treat him, what other alternitive is there???? Pot should be legalized if not only for medicinal purposes!!!! Go Ron!!!! good luck and i hope you win!!!!!!!

    by Sue B. in NC

    url:

  • Makes a lot of sense!

    Simply incredible. The doctors who are feeding this man potentially lethal and highly addictive medicines won't treat him because he uses a substance that has NEVER KILLED ANYONE. The War on (some) Drugs has gone much too far! Do you realize that if this man were to use heroin, it wouldn't show up on his drug tests as he was already receiving opioids? Neither would alcohol, which kills 10 times as many people a year as heroin! So, heroin's OK, cannabis isn't, right? And the urine tests are absurd and invasive to begin with. It's time to give the drug warriors and the government a dose of their own "medicine-" The drug war and urine tests should be made illegal!

    by Johnny Doe

    url:

  • Sense and Nonsense

    Many pain clinics are forced by the "feds" to submit to these so-called agreements and similar regulations in order to practice. My husband was a patient in a clinic a few years ago that was only allowed to treat a patient with opioids for ten months. I guess by then, they figured you should be dead. As I see it, the DEA only recognizes cancer pain as real pain, those with non-fatal, yet equally painful diseases are left twisting in the wind. It is a sad day when the DEA instead of the AMA makes medical decisions.

    by Kathy Stuart

    url:

  • Go Ronald

    Mr. Sprouse is a true advocate for what is right. Medical Marijuana is an effective treatment for many disorders including post traumatic stress disorder. More than 1/5 of the United States already has laws in place for use of medical marijuana. Others, like the wise folks of Ohio, have decriminalized it to the point of it being easier for a police officer to ignore personal use than to have to write a ticket up. And that is only 39 miles away from where Family Care is dismissing a patient for using medicine. I am a patient at Family Care and I am a medical marijuana user too. They have never dismissed me, and I have openly discussed my marijuana use with several staff members. I never signed the pain managment agreement, however. I also use marijauna spiritually in a religious practice that demands its use by doctrine. I am a minister in that religion, and my religion is recognized by the state of WV through my registry on the list of people allowed to perform marriages in WV. All this poor man wants is to be treated for the pains that the marijuana doesn't take care of. Although, Ron, if you use it orally instead of inhaled, it will help more with pain. Vaporizing (inhaling) is good for psychological uses such as PTSD, but pain management is better managed by oral dosing.

    by Mike Wills

    url: http://www.the-recovered-truth.org

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