The surgeons and the anesthesiologist get 5 stars,...

The surgeons and the anesthesiologist get 5 stars, but the questionable pain studies deserve 1 star. Patients should be aware that IRB waivers of informed consent have been obtained for some rather questionable pain studies at this hospital. You may have been included, and/or may currently be included, in one of these pain studies and not even know it. They are doing a pilot study with Appriss which owns NarxCare where they implement the CDC's chronic pain guidelines into the EHR. Even though I have no medical conditions which cause pain, I reported no pain at admission, and I do not take pain meds the CDC's chronic pain guidelines were applied to me when I was hospitalized for surgery. No one in the Compliance Office, Medical Records, or the Department of Human Research Protections at Houston Methodist will confirm nor deny I was included in pain studies at this hospital.

They have another study where a pain collaborative with other hospitals in the Texas Medical Center was created and they are sharing information about patients that are deemed high risk for drug abuse based on some rather questionable data that has been obtained from various sources, and they are not bothering to verify this data is correct or even belongs to you. If you don't live in a posh zip code, any history of sexual abuse even if you are happy and well adjusted, any history of depression or anxiety even if you haven't been for years, having chronic pain even if you don't take any medications, if you rent rather than own your own home, your education level, income, arrest records (which is all kinds of creepy and none of their business), and so forth may be used to determine your risk for drug abuse. They get to pick what makes you risky, and no one has to tell you a thing. They are not looking for any protective factors. They don't bother to talk to any of your doctors who have known you for decades and can attest to your integrity, they just decide you are at risk for drug abuse based on their "machine learning" and the data they are collecting. This is not evidence based in the least and is a huge violation of patient trust and privacy.

Once you are deemed higher risk for drug abuse even if it's not true, this information may be shared with all of your doctors, and you may find yourself going home after a very painful surgery with Tylenol - even if you don't take narcotics and have never abused drugs. If you wonder why your doctors start treating you differently after having been at Houston Methodist, you may have been flagged as a high risk patient even if you haven't done a single thing wrong.

You have the legal right to opt out of research. If you do request to opt out of research at this hospital, make sure they document this in your medical record and get a copy. Be careful answering the above questions at this hospital as it may be used to make you appear more risky for drug abuse even if you're not and/or it may be used for some of these studies.

There are two pain studies at this hospital that were published in the past year (you can find them on google scholar) where not a single patient in either study required stronger pain medication beyond the Tylenol and/or Ibuprofen they were discharged from the hospital with following surgery. Not one. I don't believe that for a minute. This must be some kind of special Tylenol. One study involved pulmonary patients and one study involved surgeries including hiatal hernia repair. The data in the studies were manipulated in all kinds of interesting and creative ways.

If you feel you have been harmed by any of these pain studies you can contact the Office of Human Research Protections with the federal government. The OHRP oversees studies involving government grants. The IRB should not be approving waivers of informed consent for research studies that involve more than minimal risk, and I would argue that since these studies can result in damage to patients' names and reputations and/or result in patients being undertreated for pain they are a bit more than minimal risk.