Well, no luck on the counselor yet. I have tried 10 of the 12 recommended facilities in my area.
The appointment with the doc/nurse went well. They agreed to be recorded. I managed to get them to say that they agreed that xanax was very dangerous, as was ambien. They agreed that a person may not be able to watch small kids while taking those meds. I asked why they did not call DSS or whatnot when they knew she was taking care of children while on those pills. They said that was my responsibility. I told them I was on deployment, how am I supposed to know? They had no response to that.
They admitted that she knew my wife drank alcohol, that she prescribed enough meds for daily dosing. How is it possible to drink, even socially, and daily dose, and never take the drugs and the alcohol in the same day? No response.
They also admitted that she had to be addicted to both ambien and xanax based on the time she had been taking the meds, and that she has only seen my wife 3 times in 7 months, yet prescribed the meds over the phone. They said they only question drug abuse when they have suspicion that it is occuring. Cancelling over 50% of her appointments last minute and asking for them over the phone was not enough incentive for them to investigate. BS.
The rest of the meeting went along those lines, me asking leading questions that resulted in them admitting things they could have done to prevent any of this from happening. They tried to tell me that it is the family's responsibility to tell the doctor if there is a problem. I didn't even know about the pills until it was too late. If these pills are dangerous, shouldn't they tell me that she is taking them, and that it must be supervised? They said it was not their job to call the family and tell them about the meds? How does that make any sense? They said it was my job to report drug abuse, but not their job to inquire if the abuse is possible, even if they know there is an addiction. I also asked what their goal was. They said it was help people address their problems and provide the needed therapy. I looked around their office and lobby, dozens of drug advertisements, ambien, lunesta, and so on. Not a single therapy related advertisement, IE, meditation, excercise, hypnosis and other alternative methods. They do not provide those services, therefore do not advertise them. So what therapy do you offer...talking and medication. AFIK, there is nothing you can cure with just words for 30 minutes in each month, and hundreds of psychotropic pills.
Further research, their establishment has 5 reviews, 3 of which were one star, along the lines of mine. They are just drug pushers, and get you out of the office in just a few minutes.
They asked what the purpose of the meeting was after about 45 minutes. They asked how this would help my wife. I was quite proud of my witty retort. "No one can help her but herself at this point".
I told them this was for me, and it makes me feel better. That immediately stopped their counter questioning, since they had just told me that their goals were to help people. I told them to send the bill to my insurance company for the hour...lol.
I do feel better, and I have a ton of stuff to help fuel my fire. I need to compile it and sort it. Maybe one day I can use it as a case for help in reform of the control of these worthless drugs.
I feel much much better. Empowered so to speak, I learned that I ammuch smarter when it comes to question and answer than a doctor and a nurse with over 60 years of experience between them. Yippee. Aren't I special?
The phone calls from the wife are getting much more coherent as well. She left two messages this evening while I was picking up MIL, she was definitely sober and aware.