Saga of the Payette Clinic continues
We’ve gotten a lot of response from our post about the Payette Clinic, a Vancouver, Washington, pain clinic that is under federal investigation for allegedly overprescribing pain medications. The clinic is owned by two nurse practitioners, and there are no medical doctors on staff. In March the nurse owners gave up their licenses to prescribe controlled substances such as Class II opiates (e.g., the addictive oxycodone, morphine, methadone, and the like) while the investigation continues.
Problems for the Payette Clinic continue, however, and just recently the father of a young woman who died of an oxycodone overdose filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the clinic. The 18-year-old woman got the drug from a clinic patient who received prescriptions for pain medications then sold them. The 18-year-old patient is also named in the lawsuit. The lawsuit contends that the Payette Clinic recklessly prescribed pain medications and disregarded public safety.
The father who filed the lawsuit gave several reasons for naming the Payette Clinic. One was his surprise and alarm upon learning that dozens of complaints had already been filed against the clinic. Another reason was the fact that there were no medical doctors involved in the management of the Payette Clinic. The father hopes for stricter regulations concerning prescription pain medications.
This was posted
on Monday, July 20th, 2009 and is filed in the Legal, Patient Care, Public Safety categories.
July 22nd, 2009 at 1:23 pm
How you lawyers love to target some one or a company and twist it to make it more than it is.
Did you ever ask yourself if the people at Payette Clinic have helped people? If you did is sure did not show itself in your report. I find your willingness to have a “saga” about Payette Clinic sad.
My wife suffers from a rare disease that for over 10 years was not properly diagnosed, even by the supposedly highly skilled and experts at OHSU. She suffered for that amount of time until she finally found the people at Payette. The RPN there identified her condition and were taking steps to help her.
Now, along with the DEA, reporters such as yourself, and those criminals who misused and misrepresented an illness in order to obtain medications for illegal uses, the clinic will not likely survive and my wifes health is in question once again. Already there are many “doctors” who say they do not want to “take on” her case as it is too complex and unique. This spells of pure GREED to me. Certainly NOT what the oath they took is supposed to be.
You want to go solicite for clients, try finding peole who were treated by these greedy vultures. When “doctors” started making money hand over fist working with the insurance companies the “Care” went out of health care. Did you know that a “doctor” gets $25.00 for listening to a patient and $125.00 for giving them an injection (this told to me by an insurance representative)? No wonder “doctors” give you a shot or throw a pill at you, even if it is not needed or will solve the concern!! That is they difference between Payette and all the other “doctors” my wife has seen over these painful years. Payette was not even prescribing the amounts that these other “doctors” were, in fact it was substantially less. What Payette was doing was trying to find the best solution to provide my wife pain relief, address her medical concern and combat this disease. Something NO OTHER “doctor” took the time to do. They threw pills at her. Take one for this, take one for that, got an ache? take this one. got swelling? take that one. They never even asked WHY the pains and swelling were happening. They would not take the time to research it to find out what COULD have been the problem.
I do not expect you to pursue that angle. No decent lawyer today has the guts to do so. I also do not expect you to take the time to consider the human interest side of this situation and get a “true” answer on what this clinic does.
Like most news lawyers today I expect you to only look for tragedy and feed off the sensationalism.
August 3rd, 2009 at 10:03 am
I am so sad and very sorry for the loss of a young girls life. And as her father strives to hold someone responsible the responsibilty lies on his own daughter as she was the one who not only sought out but consumed a legal dose of the drug that killed her. And as for the idiot that sold it to her his sentence is laughable.
Holding the Payette Clinic responsible is as ridiculous as holding safeway responsible for me killing someone while driving drunk on the wine I purchased there !
In my opinion pain clinic patients are the new black. When we as people were to stupid to see that Black people are people we segregated them like animals and shoved them to the outskirts of town all because we did not understand them or the culture. Now here we are doing it again to Pain clinic patients we don’t understand how someone can take large amounts of narcotics and benefit from them without becoming sloppy system dependant drug addicts, so lets discriminate against them. Despite the fact that America is the greatest country on the planet we have created some of the dumbest people !!!!!
August 26th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
I agree with Dorothy! It is sad that this girl died, but she killed herself no one killed her! She commited at least 3 felonies that night! first one was when she sought out the medication, she looked for it purposely, no one offerd it to her! Second was when she purchased the medication, an act that anyone her age knows is illegal! Third was when she shared the medication with two of her friends, that is contributing, and they were minors! I find the allegations against Payette Clinic unfounded for any legal action at all! I hope when they go to court the father gets laughed out of the court room by the judge! How are you going to file a wrongful death suit for someone who clearly knew what they were doing could kill them!!!!!!
August 27th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
I was a referred patient to the payette clinic.
I was put on lethal doses of oxycotin, oxycodone, & methadone. not to metion all the
other meds she ( Kelly Bell ) put me on with out the proper testing. My last visit with Kelly Bell was in March of 2009, right after they got raided. I was the last person in the office, that night, we went into the office she sat down I asked her just what has happened? She put her hands into her face and said ” F*** there is alot of drugs out there”. Now to me she just admitted guilt. I had put my faith into the Dr. who referred me to them. Not knowing that Kelly Bell thought more of the kick backs and personal payouts, than she did of her patients.
she has accomplished making thousands of people into JUNKIES. I went through horrific withdrawls not to metion my husbands withdrawls to lethal doses of methadone. This women should be arrested and put through what we all had to go through. HELL.!!!
She did not have the best interested of us all. she was a gready person who did not care what she did to all of us. The only care she had was to fill her pockets with DRUG money. without concern to the patients best interest.
In my opinion we all should stand together and make her take responsiblity for what she has done to us. The people. Let’s see if she would take the doses she prescibed to us and then make her go through withdrawls like we had to.
She is a very selfish person. Kelly! I hope and I pray that your life is filled with HELL. The hell that you put us all through. Karma is a bitch. and it don’t forget.
November 25th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Chronic pain patients have been suffering at the hands of uncaring and/or paranoid physicians for so many, many years. Just when it started to dawn on the medical world that pain control is essential for the total well-being of the chronic pain patient, we have crap like this happen and are set back years and years. I have a minumum of 3 conditions that will cause me increasing pain for the rest of my life. Do you want me just to go to bed, withdraw from the world, depressed beyond all measure? Sure, your body becomes habituated, not addicted as is the popular myth if you have real pain. There is a real difference. If you go off of any pain med you MUST go very, very slowly or you WILL have withdrawal symptoms. That’s just a medical fact. Sure, there are MD’s out there who just throw pain meds willy nilly at people who are really drug seekers, but those of us who suffer every minute of every day know the misery of having to go without narcotics to at least be able to function.
I do not believe for a minute that the Payette Clinic deserves the public and legal ostricism they have recieved. I find them kind, caring, spending way more time with me than any MD I have seen before, and trying everything they can to help alliviate the horrible pain I suffer. To those of you making judgements…I wish you could walk a mile (or try to) in our shoes, and I would bet you’d change your tune.
Shame on this last woman who wants Kelly to go to hell. Karma IS a bitch, lady, and I’ll guess your bitter angry soul will be heaped upon. (you also might find a spelling class benficial….makes YOU look dumb, not the other way around)
Compassion is all we are asking for, and the right to participate in life.
December 3rd, 2009 at 11:26 am
Carla, It sounds like you are upset at the fact that I spoke the TRUTH. ARE you one those that I could tell was a DRUG SEEKER?. There is several ways to LEARN to tolerate the WHAT you call “Pain”. I have learned, so could you. VALUE your life… Live long for your childrens children for your loved ones. SEEK a true professional. I URGE you. Narcotics are not the only way!.The amounts and dosages were over the top. Think about it?.The amount of meds that was handed out was HORRIBLE. They are NOT CAMPASSIONATE PEOPLE. She had a moral and LEGAL obligation not only to her PATIENTS but to the federal goverment to do what was right for all. NOT to LED US ALL down unsafe and unethical roads. If you are truly a person in PAIN then your exrays mri’s other information would of reveiled it.
The professional that you speak about that turned you away, was SMART, before you make JUGDEMENT on me, WAlk in my shoes. Did you Watch my life go down the drain like my family had to? Terrible things were happening to me, and we told Kelly, she did nothing but upped ONLY the NARCOTICS. WHY?.
I know what Kelly did to me, and It was immoral!!!! Stick and stones my dear, it don’t make what happened go away. I will pray for you.
December 6th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Tina Wright,
If you were concerned about “proper testing ” why did you agree to take what you refer to as “lethal doses of narcotics”? Assuming that Kelly thought more about payouts and kicksbacks proves how naive you really are. The payette clinic offered services to patients who had no ability to pay…..free of charge.
The mental health is this coutry is bad at best but Kelly Bell and Scott Pecora were willing to take on the task at times with no payment at all for people who were in distress and could not get into a prescriber anywhere in town!
I personally took a friend there who was an established patient for primary care who had lost his insurance because he lost his job and they continued to treat his severe asthma without charge.
Every Pain Patient at the clinic was put on a pain contract at the payette clinic. That means you the Patient had to be responsible for your health documenting and reporting how you feel and how well your pain is managed.
It sounds to me as though you may have been negligent in sticking to your pain contracting therefore wanting to hold someone other than yourself responsible.
You should be ashamed of yourself for wishing another human being to have a life filled with hell. I hope your Karma for your bitter heart will not be too severe.
You should take some responsibility for what you put in your mouth and body. Medical health care professionals are not gods and they are not perfect that is why they call what they do PRACTICING…. They are practicing on us !!
Next time I suggest you take a more proactive approach in dealing with your health issues and concerns if you agree to let people who are practicing , practice on you without you imput feedback or participation then dont complain.
Kelly…. if she did really say it and for me its questionable… that there are alot of “drugs” out there would only be a statement of truth in that she had like 900 patients (and not all of them were pain patients). How you could see that as an admission of guilt again shows how naive you are.
You would do well for yourself to remain silent on the issue lest you look more like and idiot and less like a victim.
Take some responsibilty for your life and your healthcare! You took what was prescribed without question ,take responsibilty for your outcome and learn from it !
December 8th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
Dorothy:
I am glad to see that you are STILL HERE upon this earth, to whine, about another pill mill being put out of businsess. Too bad for those who are not. Right!
Perhaps that is what is wrong with some of our healthcare issues. Places, like the PEOPLE, at the Payette clinic who has put our healthcare system at risk with there unsafe and unethical
practices. She, they should be held liable for the less than standard care I and many other had recieved. You mentioned Mental health.
Perhaps that would explain your inability to see the bigger real picture here. Seek a true professional my dear, I URGE you to do so. For your family, your loved ones. FOR YOURSELF..
Perhaps, just Perhaps, you will find some answers to your problems that would help you cope with lifes ups and downs with real professionals. I wish you good luck!.
December 19th, 2009 at 8:49 am
Its the daughters own fault!! Kelly did not prescribe that girl any medications as well the girl SMOKED a pill, that to me is 100% her own fault and the parents should be looked at for not watching their own child. Kelly is not a babysitter for someone who is not even her patient. This is ridiculious.
I started seeing Kelly after a a severe car accident and other medical conditions that doctors would tell me i am to young and can deal with the pain. Kelly went above and beyond for me and found the problems with my back as well as a thyroid condition that was making me very ill, which no other doctor would give me but 4 mins in a room to say its in your head and then give you medications, if you want to complain about a woman who cares so much about her patients that she can tell you every family member name your pets names as well as your entire medical history with out looking….this woman is an amazing person and if you dont know her then you need to back off, focus on the kid that was obviously a drug addict and did it to her self. Kelly has a very strict policy on pain management and followed it strictly, the boy whom sold the medications should be charged not Kelly who is out there to help people!!! PLACE YOUR BLAME ON THE REAL PEOPLE WHO DID THIS, THE BOY NEEDS TO BE ARRESTED AND THE GIRL PAID HER PRICE FOR ABUSING DRUGS, THAT IS NOT KELLYS FAULT!!
December 31st, 2009 at 4:56 pm
TO EVERYONE; THE DEBATE IS now OVER, KELLY MARTENE BELL, of the Payette clinic has been found GUILTY of putting patients in physical harm and or death. YES!!!!!!
SHAME!!! on all you people, who blamed everyone else, EXCEPT KELLY M BELL.
She will no longer able to practices ANYTHING!.
If you would like to see it for yourself, go to
http://www.doh.wa. on left hand side, click provider credential search, click health care provider,
enter her name, click on her RN#, read statement of charges, and BINGO. if you still can’t believe your eyes feel free to call the number provided and they will tell you more. There is JUSTICE after all.
January 26th, 2010 at 10:14 pm
My father was a patient of the Payette Clinic and Kelly Bell. She knew his history and yes he had a high tolerance for pain medications, and sure his pain was gone with all the meds she was giving him, but when they closed in March her suggestion was detox in hospital and she literally told us noone would touch him with a 10 foot pole. Why would that be? Did he not need all of these meds? Why, then were they being given to him? She may have helped people, but in our case she really hurt my father with her negligance. I hope she realizes what she has done.