Connie Basch, MD, an integrative medicine family practitioner specializing in pain management in Arcata, CA is the next California government target. As I’ve been preaching, in spite of the re-statement of the CDC guidelines, Dr. Basch is being attacked for failure to taper her patients “quick enough”, and for overprescribing opioids, even though all of the patients in her disciplinary paperwork are taking less than what they were on when they came to her.

I think I’ve found my twin, or at least my soul sister. The only difference is she has much higher credentials than I, even though I am Mensa-qualified. Get a load of the credentials to the right:

Like me, she is willing to take the fight on, but she will need our help. She is on the right track though, going public and calling on her patients and supporters to stand behind her.

Dr. Basch has 1400 patients, 60 of which are being treated for chronic pain. So why is she a target? She is an independent female physician treating the expendable populations, healing their diseases, restoring their quality of life, in an underserved area (just like I was). If the government is able to shut her down, the lack of care will cause many of those patients to die. This is one goal of the government in these attacks—legal genocide.

She understands the cause of disease and can get to the cause and fix it through alternative medicine, as long as the patient is led to healing. She understands and teaches homeopathy. Here is a pdf that she has produced explaining the use of homeopathy for pain: Pain Management With Homeopathy

She is the carbon copy of my practice 15 years ago, and should therefore learn from what happened to me. The first step is the attack by the state board of medicine. Kimberly Kirchmeyer, the executive director of the Medical Board of California, filed a formal complaint against Dr. Basch alleging multiple charges of “unprofessional conduct” on May 8. But notice whose names are listed as complainants—state Attorney Generals:

The BOM leaves a paper trail through their charges and hearings. Here are the basic things she is being charged with pertaining to treatment for the 5 patients used in this attack:

Patient 1:

Patient 2:
Patient 3:
Patient 4:
Patient 5:

To summarize, the BOM is claiming unprofessional conduct for the following:

1. prescribing “excessive amounts of opioid medications and benzodiazepines” and for one patient, “placing him at risk of overdose and death.”
2. failure to lower “pain medications to a safe level in a timely manner”
3. a lack of discussion about the risks involved in taking narcotic medications;
4. failing to develop a clear plan about the reason behind taking a combination of opioids, benzodiazepines and other sedatives;
5. failing to follow plans to taper patients off pain medications within an appropriate timeframe.

So the Medical Board of California is accusing Dr. Basch of negligence for continuing to prescribe opioids for legacy patients living with chronic pain, not based on any adverse outcome for any individual patient. They are therefore not even following their own policies which state that there is no “safe ceiling” dose of opioids.

Dr. Basch says that the Medical Board’s approach to the dealing with the opioid crisis is problematic and doesn’t take into consideration the quality of the patient’s life. Rapidly cutting a patient’s opioid prescription can lead them to seek pain relief from illegal sales on the streets. She stands by her medical decision-making, which, by the way, is supported in the Controlled Substance Act in 802(56)(c).

As a result of this BOM attack, Dr. Basch could be stripped of her license to practice medicine, or placed on probation. In either case, she will have to close her practice due to regulations from the Medical Board. This would mean that the 1,400 patients would have to go elsewhere for services in a county that is already in need of medical providers.

Dr. Basch observes

“With pain patients, the only way to manage them in a way that the state would not criticize, would be to fire them,” “To say ‘I won’t care for you’ would protect my license, but it would not protect those individuals. There’s a good chance that the other 1,300 patients are going to have no provider at all because of my management of these few.”

I take “Do No Harm” very seriously and have studied Pain Management in great depth, even teaching about this topic at several national conferences. In our pain management program I have helped more patients lower their doses or get off opioids than I have maintained. I feel my care is compassionate and evidence-based, and that I am a conscientious objector to the current pendulum swing in pain management. 

Addendum January, 2021:

Dr. Basch aggreed to probation to settle her case. Her reason was the cost of the legal battle with the board of medicine. In her words,

“I have some guilt for having caved because somebody should be fighting this policy,” Basch said. “Patients around the state are dying because of this policy.”

Yes, hopefully, there will be someone else to fight the battle for future doctors being targeted and the patients in need of proper pain management.

To end these attacks, restore pain management, and provide compensation to all the families that have been destroyed by government overreach, we must get the Controlled Substance Act repealed.  Join Doctorsofcourage to get that done. Learn what we teach and spread the word.  NO DRUG CAUSES ADDICTION!! Let’s end the War on Drugs, Doctors and Pain Patients, end the black market, solve the southern border crisis, and restore proper pain management.  It CAN be done! 

Addendum:

I have failed in my mission to end these attacks on doctors and pain patients. Through John Bevere’s book The Bait of Satan, I have figured out why—my lack of forgiveness to those who attacked me. As in Mark 11: 24-26:

Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.

And when you do not do the will of the Father, you are estranged from him and he will ignore you.  So we all must forgive the agents who attacked us in order for things to be made right through any of our works.

Jesus said

“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”

But we cannot lay down our lives for God unless we know Him well enough to trust Him. We must have the assurance that He would never do anything to harm us. He always looks out for what He knows is in our best interest. As a nation, those of us suffering from these attacks must understand that we are serving as God’s messengers of love.  We must forgive those who persecute us and love them instead, following God’s will for us. Then and only then will we see fruits from our labor.

So I hope that everyone who has suffered from what happened to Dr. Basch can trust the Lord, forgive those who have hurt you, and help bring this country back to the God-fearing country that our forefathers founded. Then, and only then, can you be a part of the effort to stop these attacks. I look forward to that day.