It was bad enough that Western New York was dealing with an opioid epidemic, but that crisis is being compounded by another one involving pain management patients.
After the indictment of Dr. Eugene Gosy, the doctor's pain treatment center in Williamsville closed leaving many of his 10,000 active patients scrambling for answers.
On top of that, patients are complaining that primary care providers are not willing to take on pain management duties and forcing them to go to Emergency Rooms as prescriptions run out and concerns about opioid medication withdrawal increase.
"We are seeing an increase of two to three times the normal patients presenting with these type requests to our emergency rooms," said Dr. Brian D'Arcy, Senior Vice President - Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer for Catholic Health.
Dr. D'Arcy said all Catholic Health hospitals are seeing the increase and the patients coming in are from all walks of life and represent various age groups.
Watch Ed Reilly's report to hear more from Dr. D'Arcy and the impact that hospitals are seeing.
