Hi. The best referral I can offer is to Robert H. Hines, Jr., MD, who a dear and sadly late friend of mind saw for years. He's in Marin. There was someone amazing in the city, Pamela Pierce Palmer, MD at UCSF, but it's my understanding she has retired within the last year or so.

Here's Dr. Hines' contact information and website:

Robert H. Hines, Jr., MD
Bay Area Pain Medical Associates (BAPMA)
3 Harbor Drive
Suite 115
Sausalito, CA 94965
Telephone 415-380-0480
Facsimile 415-380-8788

http://bayareapainmedical.com/index.html

Both Dr. Hines and his partner, Michael H Moskowitz, MD, are board certified by the American Board of Pain Medicine, the group which oversees pain medicine fellowships http://www.abpm.org/about and requires that those holding its certifications (except for a few nationally known practitioners who were grandfathered-in) not only complete a separate 1-year fellowship in pain medicine, after their residencies, but then sit for and pass an 8-hour written exam. So these guys are the real deal.

I hope this is helpful.

Mike