Dr. John S Townsend, MD

As i reading this opinion by this patient, I have to wonder why them did not tell the whole truth of the nature of his visit with Dr Townsend. It is obvious he was seeing this doctor as a Designated Doctor exam. The nature of these type visits differ than those of a regular patient. A DD exam is requested by the patients insurance carrier and is in no way a treating doctor relationship. Dr. Townsend is not there to offer treatment or medications. He is only to answer the questions asked by the requesting office.I have been a patient of his for many years and yes he will not provide narcotics to anyone, but his overall caring for the well being of his patients is by far the best I have ever seen. There are times it may take more time to get to see him but that is because he spends as much time as needed to visit with his patients, he takes time away from his family even in the evening to provide the best care he can. That is a very understanding wife and family to allow him that time.… Pain can cause people to make poor choices, I would hold to much merit in that patients comments.

The patient who so vocally condemned Dr. Townsend for being non-responsive and uncaring about his pain and medical history was responding to frustration stemming from a very complex and intractable chronic pain disorder associated with a very complicated medical history. I was in the position to hear both sides. The patient was without doubt in pain and the pain caused severe occupational disability as well as clinical depression. Complicating matters was the fact that the patient had experienced a head injury 12 or more months earlier. He did develop ataxic like tremors, stuttering and other unusual neurological symptoms. The problem was that this patient had been on long term opiate medications. It was impossible to determine whether or not these neurological symptoms were related to a head injury, depression and anxiety or use of narcotic medications. Dr. Townsend does not prescribe narcotics and advises all patients that if they want these meds they need to find another doctor. He… will refer patients to pain management specialists for narcotic medications. This patient wanted to continue on hydrocodone. The medication did help his pain but was requiring higher doses. As far as discussion of lawsuits the patient was convinced that he could sue his employer and frequently discussed this. He was covered by workers compensation and as such one can not sue the employer. I believe this patient had and probably still has a legitimate chronic pain condition but his frustration made him have expectations and demands no reasonable physician could meet. He was referred to a number of specialists and eventually decided to seek care elsewhere. Dr Townsend's goal is to return patients to work as soon as medically possible and this patient was not emotionally ready to move in that direction. His frustration and anger was understandable but his rating of Dr Townsend was biased and unfair.