After state suspends doctor, pain patients scramble for help

The calls are coming, angry and anxious, from pain patients across Washington worried they can’t find care.

Three weeks after state officials suspended the medical license of Dr. Frank Li, medical director of Seattle Pain Centers, citing allegations of billing fraud and possibly contributing to patient deaths, other providers say they’ve been swamped with a new — and desperate — demand.

“We’ve had hundreds of patients who have been referred to us already,” said Dr. David J. Tauben, the chief of pain medicine at the University of Washington.

It’s the same story at Swedish Medical Center, where Dr. Steven Stanos is the medical director for Pain Services. At the Washington Center for Pain Management, which has clinics here and in Oregon, staff have been fielding at least 200 calls a day.

Read more: http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/pain-patients-scramble-for-care-after-clinic-crackdown/