Controlled Substances Policy

We are family nurse practitioners at Lavender Spectrum Health. We are neither trained pain management specialists nor psychiatrists. 

If you are currently on daily opioids (hydrocodone, oxycodone, buprenorphine, methadone, fentanyl, etc) for chronic pain or benzodiazepines (alprazolam, clonazepam, lorazepam, temazepam, etc) for chronic anxiety and are seeking a primary care provider to prescribe these medications, we recommend seeking care with a different primary care provider. 

If you are not sure if one of your medications is an opioid or a benzodiazepine, please ask to have a provider review your medication list. 

We do not prescribe these medications on a daily basis due to them being outside our scope of practice. 

If you have a specialist who is currently prescribing these medications and lose access to your specialist, we are not able to continue these medications.

We are not aware of any pain specialists who are accepting new patients in the Portland-Vancouver area who will prescribe these medications in an ongoing way. We cannot prescribe these medications on a short-term basis for you until you find a specialist due to the shortage of specialists available. 

We understand that these medications may be crucial to your quality of life and ability to function, and want to be sure you have adequate notice to find alternative healthcare providers.