The rules impose a specific annual reporting requirement to hospital clinics, which must report by March 1 st of each year on a form approved by the GCMB the notification of its operation of any outpatient clinic at its main facility or a satellite facility with greater than 50% of that clinic’s annual patient population being treated for chronic pain for non-terminal conditions by the use of Schedule II or III controlled substances. These rules include standards for operating pain clinics, applying for a new clinic license, denial of licensure, requirements for notifications to the GCMB, annual reporting, disciplinary action and reinstatement. The GCMB published detailed rules for operating a Georgia pain clinic in Chapter 360-8: Pain Management Clinics consistent with State law, which are available online. The law imposed appropriate scrutiny to reduce the number of disreputable pain clinics and to facilitate qualified, licensed Georgia physicians establishing reputable pain clinics for patients who legitimately need pain management treatment. The GCMB is an oversight board charged with regulating the practice of medicine in Georgia. Essentially, Georgia’s law provides that medical practices where more than fifty percent (50%) of the patient population receives Schedule II or III controlled substances to treat chronic pain must be licensed by the Georgia Composite Medical Board (GCMB). Georgia’s law was in reaction to increased restrictions on pain clinics imposed by the state of Florida, which caused operators of pain clinics to migrate to Georgia to distribute prescriptions. Georgia’s law, the Georgia Pain Management Clinic Act (HB 178), was nicknamed the “Pill Mill Bill.” Detailed discussion of this law is in an online article by David W. For example, the Florida and Georgia legislatures passed laws between 20 to regulate pain clinics. In the wake of rampant overuse of narcotics, resulting in major health problems and deaths from overdose by individuals who may have become addicted to pain medicine initially provided by physicians and other healthcare providers, many states have enacted strict laws concerning the operation of pain clinics. Three PainMD nurses were indicted on federal charges in connection with procedures provided at the Tennessee clinics under investigation. In the PainMD pain clinic investigations, not only were the companies and clinic administrators at risk for financial penalties and reputational harm in connection with potential fraud, but so were the health providers who worked at those clinics. Georgia Pain Management and DEA Defense Law Firm Authorities of the state of Tennessee initiated their own investigation, with concerns that the conduct of clinic personnel may violate state law. Federal authorities alleged that PainMD and its parent company inflated profits by providing patients with unnecessary injections to be paid by federal health insurance programs. Those clinics, formerly affiliated with PainMD and rebranded as Rinova, closed last week. This month, the abrupt closing of four Tennessee pain management clinics under investigation for state and federal health insurance fraud made headlines.
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