The management and treatment of patients who have chronic pain is not a "glamorous" role in the field of health care. There are only a handful of doctors willing to take on this insidious condition, and far fewer are doctors willing to treat the most disadvantaged; the patients who are on Medicaid. The practice of interventional pain management is an under served need in the medical community, and losing access to the only practice in the state of Connecticut that offers state of the art treatment for this condition will have devastating effects for its hundreds of Medicaid patients. Many patients suffering from chronic pain are passed from doctor to doctor, some just don't know how or what to do for patients suffering from this condition, and other doctors have no interest in even getting involved. Sadly, if you're a person with major, debilitating, chronic pain it can take years to find help, if ever. For Medicaid patients, the outlook is far more grim- because out of those handful of specialists, only a tiny percentage accept Medicaid.   So, why is this important? A doctor specializing in the treatment and management of chronic pain AND a Medicaid provider is the ONLY lifeline for so many patients. Medicaid patients suffering from chronic pain are "lost causes" to most of the medical world. Doctors are not making profit from these patients. Diagnosis, treatment and management is often time consuming, complex, and difficult for doctors and patients.  Thankfully, there are a few doctors out there with the compassion and empathy to take care of Medicaid patients suffering from this chronic, life-altering condition. One of these doctors is Dr. Mark Thimineur, and for his Medicaid patients, he is their ONLY hope and respite from their pain and suffering.  Dr. Mark Thimineur has done nothing wrong medically or legally in 25 years of practice. Yet, the Department of Social Services is terminating his Medicaid contract in six short weeks (August 30, 2015). This will leave his patients with no one to turn to, many of whom have been with him for many years. He's also the only pain management specialist in the state who provides patients with implantable, highly specialized devices that require long term management to work effectively. He's the only specialist in Connecticut to provide this care to Medicaid patients. Many who were in terrible condition when they came to him and now are actually functioning, productive people with lives that seemed forever lost before Dr. Thimineur took on their care.These patients all have families that love them and people that need them; mothers, fathers, husbands and wives... lives that already have been devastated by chronic pain, and now are going to be devastated again because of a thoughtless decision.  We need to prevent this from happening! By supporting this petition, you can help stop a government agency from making a terrible decision that will have immediate, devastating consequences for the many patients that absolutely depend on Dr. Thimineur. He is an amazing doctor with an enormous compassion to help patients that have been written off by other doctors in the medical community. By signing this petition you can make a difference, if no one knows.. we can't help these victims of government oversight. Patients who need to continue to have access to their doctor.   Most of us know someone with chronic pain. What we don't know is how underserved this patient group is and how difficult it is for them to find a doctor that can actually treat their condition and help restore them to a functioning level.   Thank you for your support!