Q: Can I sue the NM Medical Board, State of New Mexico & other medical authorities for neglecting to address proper care?
I am permanently disabled from a motorcycle vs. drunk driver in a van in 1986, where I received multiple serious injuries and came very close to death. Leg tore to shreds, vertical fracture of my pelvis (split in half), crushed hand, broken arm. I worked hard to recover and rehabilitate, all the while taking opiates for the severe pain to get me through. Now, after 30+ years, I require high doses of opiates to relieve my pain even enough to get from one room to the next. My condition is inoperable, permanent, and if correctly categorized, palliative. When the NM Medical Board proposed the changes to the guidelines in the end of 2016, they had a public meeting whereas others could input on the proposed changes. I wrote my agreements and concerns and was "heard". I requested that the guidelines' "definitions" include "Intractable Pain", separate from chronic pain, and exceptions be made. They made no such change. They felt "bad for me". There is a serious lack of treatment for Pain.
A: Short answer is no. Courts don't tell administrative agencies what to do, and it's within their discretion. However, if your problem is getting a rehab plan or similar going, you will want to contact a group that deals with pain like the cancer socieity for your state, etc.
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