New Guidelines Limit Prescriptions For Painkillers

New federal guidelines on how doctors can dispense pain medication is literally causing pain for some patients. 

Tim Quinlan, 57, has dealt with chronic pain for three decades. 

Doctors replaced the left side of his jaw with titanium in 1985, after he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. 

He said the new guidelines have dramatically cut his options for treating his pain, and has led to frequent periods of out and out misery.

"It feels like someone has a pair of pliers here and here, and it's squeezing as hard as they can," he said. 

Dr. Rachel Franklin is medical director at OU Physicians Family Medicine. 

She said the medical community is very sympathetic to patients like Quinlan. But she said more people die for accidental prescription drug overdoses than car accidents, and Oklahoma is one of the leaders in the nation when it comes to that. 

Quinlan has an appointment Monday morning at the state Capital to talk to his state senator about his situation, and to try to get relief.