State law in Ct.

I just got off of the phone with the manager at Nutmeg Respiratory and she told me it is a state law about changing the settings on the CPaP machines by the user. Does anyone know for sure that this is true?

Gabe wrote:I just got off of the phone with the manager at Nutmeg Respiratory and she told me it is a state law about changing the settings on the CPaP machines by the user. Does anyone know for sure that this is true?

Any manager claiming to have the authority to give legal advice to patients obviously has a law degree and would therefore be glad to provide you with your personal photocopy of the exact law being referred to, right?

Must have been from the same law school as the sleep tech who told me it was against FEDERAL law for me to have the software.

Bull hockey, ask for proof in writing where it says that you (as a patient) aren't allowed to change settings on your machine.
They keep wanting to set your machine at 4 min and 20 max. I wouldn't even discuss it with them anymore it was me.

LIES, LIES, and more LIES. What would the government care if you changed your pressure or used a program to read your therapy results --- its YOUR therapy! I would always ask "Do you have a copy of that law?"

http://www.apneaboard.com/CPAP%20Adjustment.htm


"There is a lot of talk about how it's "illegal" for Sleep Apnea patients to adjust or change their own CPAP machine pressure settings; that only a licensed, certified or qualified technician, physician or clinician can do it.

First of all, I challenge anyone to show me any local, state or federal law that makes adjusting your own legally-obtained CPAP machine a crime, or even threatens punitive action for doing so. Go ahead - I double-dog dare 'ya."

Ask her if she's going to call the cops on you.

There are so many stupid state laws that nobody here is going to be able to really assure you that there is no such law in your state. Heck, even a Connecticut lawyer specializing in medical laws probably couldn't completely guarantee that. I have my doubts, but it's possible.

It probably is illegal to sell (or "dispense") a machine to someone without a prescription via federal law. The way the warnings have been worded, I'm not sure it's illegal to buy the machine, or just to "dispense" it.

It may fall under "practicing medicine without a license" to tinker with someone else's machine, although that would probably be hard to get a conviction unless you're claiming to be a doctor or doing it for money. It's possible that someone might get harassed for this if someone with money and lawyers wanted to do so.

If it's "state law" or even a regulation, it's in writing somewhere. Ask her to show you exactly where to find this "law".

I promise you, the police in your state have better things to do than to arrest you for making your therapy the best it can be.

Our lawyer's wife is not only an attorney, but a registered nurse.
I would welcome the chance to become a test case.
All the way to the top if necessary!
A cause celeb.
And I'm cute enough for tv news!

Gabe wrote:I just got off of the phone with the manager at Nutmeg Respiratory and she told me it is a state law about changing the settings on the CPaP machines by the user. Does anyone know for sure that this is true?

So who will prosecute? Name one prosecutor who would take this case if it is indeed against the law. He/she would be laughed out of the court room.

I'll bet there is a law somewhere on the books in ct. against spitting on the sidewalk.

The people who need to be arrested are all of the DME employees who are unhelpful to patients to the point of actively preventing patients from getting their PAP therapy comfortable and effective.

After all, the only reason most of us adjust our own machines is that our experience has taught us that there is no one at the brick-and-mortar DME smart enough to be of any help to us. If it isn't against the law for the DME employee to be an idiot, it certainly isn't against the law for me to make sure the idiot doesn't ruin my therapy.

Once I drive my machine off the DME lot, it is mine to drive as I see fit. If I get a ticket for self-pressure-adjustment from some imaginary pressure-traffic-cop on the freeway of my nightly therapy, I will gladly pay it with the imaginary money needed to pay that imaginary ticket for breaking that imaginary law. Is anyone going to put the APAP machine in jail for making pressure adjustments on its own without the DME's permission to do so? (BAD machine! I'm letting you off with a warning!)

Managers lying to patients about laws that don't exist are the true criminals. Who holds them accountable for those lies? No one, that's who. And any medical service that corrupt needs to go down.

Not that I feel strongly about it, or anything.

Isn't it unbelievable the BS some "medical" people spew? I actually have a story from the "opposite direction" that may really surprise some of you. I had a two-night study, with the two nights two weeks apart. Before I went in for the titration, I was informed that I had severe SA. Knowing I would have to get a machine, I visited local DME's to check them out and discuss their machines, available service, etc. (I understood my situation and knew what questions to ask from info I had gathered here- thanks to all of you!) When I got my script, I went back to the DME I liked the best. My RT there was so impressed with my knowledge and understanding that she showed me how to adjust the settings, with the promise that, if I did, I would let her know, so she could make the changes in her notes (and not get into trouble herself for showing me). How's that grab ya?

kempo wrote:I'll bet there is a law somewhere on the books in ct. against spitting on the sidewalk.

I don't think that law applies to the sidewalk in front of the B&M DME.

My understanding is that once I own the machine, it is against the law for a medical person to adjust it without my permission. Not the other way around. But, hey, I'm not a lawyer any more than that manager is.

I've been told by more than one DME that changing my pressure was illegal, so apparently crime is just a way of life for us.
Recently I dropped off my Respironics System One at the DME because the machine was performing erratically.
The RT did a 10 second check, and said the "machine is fine", "it's an auto cpap, it's supposed to do that" . I told him NO, it's not supposed to do that, I've been on cpap therapy for 6 years, and this isn't my first auto cpap, I know how they work.
I told him I want it repaired and he said, he didn't have a loaner, so I would have to come back when they have one. I said, well this one isn't doing me any good, so I'm leaving it here, and he said "you can't do that, that's illegal!, you can get in trouble for that."
I told him that "I'm afraid it's YOU who is in trouble", I left the machine, and walked out the door.
The next day, a brand new machine arrived at my house. Haven't had any "trouble" since.
Just one of many hilarious DME stories that we all seem to encounter. I guess most of them think we're all stupid.

I guess most of them think we're all stupid.

When my husband worked in retail, one way he and his coworkers coped with the mind-numbing dumb questions they had to field every day was to have the "Stupid customer of the day award". There are a lot of dumb people out there who just don't have a clue. So perhaps the DME's can be forgiven for treating us like idots, because for every one of us well-educated and knowledgeable CPAP users, I'm betting there are at least 10 who don't even know what CPAP stands for, let alone how to use it properly.

Not that I'm defending the DME's and RT's that perpetrate this crapola. Particularly for those who had a 30 minute training session or 1 hour lecture in RT school and who have never had to sleep in the mask, their knowledge is in a VERY narrow range. They just don't know what to do with people like us, who live this and make a great effort to know what's what. The scary part of all this is that these so-called professionals who are supposed to assist us don't even know what they don't know. And they are totally threatened when we come in there knowing more than they do, and belligerent when a newbie who has been reading here starts to ask questions.

Unfortunately, we all suffer. If we could work collaboratively with our care providers, rather than adversarially, the outcome would be phenomenal. Instead we have to play stupid games and put up with lies, rather than the support we need for optimal therapy.

I want to thank all of you for your comments. I enjoyed them.