A Calgary man said his doctor is planning on cutting off his opioid pain medication despite his critical need for it.

Brent Waddell used to work as a senior computer systems analyst until he hurt his back lifting some computers.

He had surgery for the damage but it didn’t go well.

“The fusion didn’t take, and the two screws out of the four have broken off at their heads because they were placed incorrectly. During the surgery, the neurosurgeon accidently slipped and cut open my right L5 nerve root which caused half of my foot to become numb but I also have so much scar tissue left in my back that it constantly sends electricity down my leg and it’s very debilitating unless I take my medication,” he said.

That surgery was eight years ago, and Waddell has been taking opioid pain medication every day since. Without it, he said the pain is intolerable.

“It’s like somebody taking a baseball bat and swinging it at my lower back,” he said. “All your nerves are on fire.”

In April, Waddell said he received a letter from his doctor that stated that the prescription he relies on will soon end.

“They are giving all their opioid patients that are on triplicate prescriptions three months and that’s it, they are cutting off their prescriptions and we will have to go out and find another doctor,” he said.

CTV attempted to reach Waddell’s clinic but no one was available to talk.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta did speak to CTV and said there has been a change in how doctors go about prescribing opioids. The new standard of practice drops the dosage limit to 90 milligrams from 200 and came into effect April 1st, 2017.

“If they have patients who are on either 90 oral morphine equivalents per day or more, that is the recognized maximum daily dosage, then they need to be able to justify that prescribing to the college,” said Kelly Eby, College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta.

The College also stated that physicians should not abruptly stop prescribing opioids and must not abandon their patients currently receiving opioids.

Waddell said he takes nearly double that new maximum amount every day and has for years, and doesn’t understand why his doctor won’t follow the new rules and fill out the paperwork to prescribe above that amount.

“I could even die, you can’t just go from taking opioids every four hours for eight years and then cold turkey,” he said.

Waddell said he is currently seeking legal advice and is urging other patients facing a similar situation to come forward.

Anyone in a similar situation can contact us by emailing Kathy Le here.