Binky
06-24-2008, 05:33 AM
CHRONIC-PAIN SUFFERERS DESERVE TREATMENT WITH DIGNITY
Pain. We all experience it at some time in our life to varying degrees and for varying periods of time. Caused by injury or illness, it is nature's way of telling us that something is wrong. In a majority of cases, modern medicine does an excellent job of relieving our pain. Through treatment of the cause of the pain or simply controlling the pain that is not easily treatable, most patients receive relief from their pain.
Doctors, left to their own resources, do an excellent job of improving the quality of life of their patients. Even those patients suffering from chronic pain are able to live a normal life if properly treated. Some of the time, that proper treatment includes narcotic pain medication. Prescribed and taken properly, narcotics provide the only relief for some chronic pain victims. Spinal injuries, deformities and degeneration are some examples that respond well to narcotic therapy. Many times they are the only choice that will provide relief.
It is estimated that 2 percent of Americans are addicted to drugs. This number has not changed over the last 100 years. The "War on Drugs" has not changed this number, in spite of spending almost a trillion dollars in trying to change it. Some of this 2 percent are addicted to narcotics. Narcotics that are stolen - acquired through break-ins or robberies. Some are even acquired through patients scamming their doctors for a prescription - and then selling the pills on the street. People who suffer from chronic pain would never sell their prescription - those pills are their only chance for a normal life. The kind of life that most of us take for granted. Life can be hard enough without chronic pain. For those suffering from it, life can become almost unbearable.
In our zeal to control the flow of illegal drugs, we have made the relief of pain almost impossible for the average doctor. The Drug Enforcement Administration ( DEA ) tracks all narcotic prescriptions, and has developed guidelines for the dispensing of narcotics. If a doctor exceeds those guidelines, an inquiry is launched. In essence, the DEA decides what the doctor should prescribe, to whom, and in what quantities. With the full weight of the U.S. government behind it, the DEA can be quite intimidating to even the most well-intentioned and dedicated doctor. One would assume that the doctor would have the final say in the treatment of his or her patients, but that isn't always so. Pressure from DEA guidelines sometimes squeezes the doctor to the point that the patient is left out of the treatment process altogether. The needs of the patients, in essence, take a back seat to the guidelines and restrictions of government. With the doctors caught in the middle.
This scenario is only one of the unintended consequences of the War on Drugs. Intended as an attempt to control the 2 percent of the population who are drug addicts, these efforts also deprive the 98 percent who are not addicts of sometimes desperately needed medications. A person who is honestly in pain is treated the same as an addict. They are denied the relief that can make their life bearable and enjoyable again.
In case you are curious as to the reason that I seem to be familiar with this subject, it is because for the last year or so I have lived this scenario. I suffer from a degenerative condition of the spine. I live in virtually constant pain. Although it is seldom excruciating, it is always present. Day after day, I have been forced to live with it. Efforts to find relief have not only been unsuccessful, they have, at times, been insulting. I have been treated like a drug addict. Like I was lying about my pain to get prescription narcotics that I was going to sell on the street. Never mind the fact that I have never been in trouble with the law, always had a job, always paid my taxes and have done volunteer work for most of my life. All of that didn't seem to matter. Once I requested narcotics - the only thing that will relieve my pain - I was branded a drug addict, and treated accordingly. I don't deserve such treatment - no law-abiding citizen deserves that.
As I told my story to various people, I was shocked to learn that many Americans are in the same situation as myself. Story after story sounded strangely familiar until I came to the realization that something has to change. In our efforts to control the 2 percent of our population, we are denying the 98 percent the relief that they not only need, but deserve. No one in America should have to live with chronic pain. It is a basic right of a free people to make their own decisions about the quality of their life. If that quality of life includes taking narcotic pain relievers every day for the rest of their life, it is their life - who is the government to deny them the relief that they so desperately need?
Chronic pain brings with it depression and anxiety that can force its victim into a downward spiral that sometimes ends in the ultimate solution - suicide. I wonder if we, as a people, are willing to tolerate that to try and control the addicted 2 percent?
Battle Creek Enquirer (MI)
Copyright: 2008 Battle Creek Enquirer
Contact: http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/customerservice/contactus.html
Website: http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com
Pain. We all experience it at some time in our life to varying degrees and for varying periods of time. Caused by injury or illness, it is nature's way of telling us that something is wrong. In a majority of cases, modern medicine does an excellent job of relieving our pain. Through treatment of the cause of the pain or simply controlling the pain that is not easily treatable, most patients receive relief from their pain.
Doctors, left to their own resources, do an excellent job of improving the quality of life of their patients. Even those patients suffering from chronic pain are able to live a normal life if properly treated. Some of the time, that proper treatment includes narcotic pain medication. Prescribed and taken properly, narcotics provide the only relief for some chronic pain victims. Spinal injuries, deformities and degeneration are some examples that respond well to narcotic therapy. Many times they are the only choice that will provide relief.
It is estimated that 2 percent of Americans are addicted to drugs. This number has not changed over the last 100 years. The "War on Drugs" has not changed this number, in spite of spending almost a trillion dollars in trying to change it. Some of this 2 percent are addicted to narcotics. Narcotics that are stolen - acquired through break-ins or robberies. Some are even acquired through patients scamming their doctors for a prescription - and then selling the pills on the street. People who suffer from chronic pain would never sell their prescription - those pills are their only chance for a normal life. The kind of life that most of us take for granted. Life can be hard enough without chronic pain. For those suffering from it, life can become almost unbearable.
In our zeal to control the flow of illegal drugs, we have made the relief of pain almost impossible for the average doctor. The Drug Enforcement Administration ( DEA ) tracks all narcotic prescriptions, and has developed guidelines for the dispensing of narcotics. If a doctor exceeds those guidelines, an inquiry is launched. In essence, the DEA decides what the doctor should prescribe, to whom, and in what quantities. With the full weight of the U.S. government behind it, the DEA can be quite intimidating to even the most well-intentioned and dedicated doctor. One would assume that the doctor would have the final say in the treatment of his or her patients, but that isn't always so. Pressure from DEA guidelines sometimes squeezes the doctor to the point that the patient is left out of the treatment process altogether. The needs of the patients, in essence, take a back seat to the guidelines and restrictions of government. With the doctors caught in the middle.
This scenario is only one of the unintended consequences of the War on Drugs. Intended as an attempt to control the 2 percent of the population who are drug addicts, these efforts also deprive the 98 percent who are not addicts of sometimes desperately needed medications. A person who is honestly in pain is treated the same as an addict. They are denied the relief that can make their life bearable and enjoyable again.
In case you are curious as to the reason that I seem to be familiar with this subject, it is because for the last year or so I have lived this scenario. I suffer from a degenerative condition of the spine. I live in virtually constant pain. Although it is seldom excruciating, it is always present. Day after day, I have been forced to live with it. Efforts to find relief have not only been unsuccessful, they have, at times, been insulting. I have been treated like a drug addict. Like I was lying about my pain to get prescription narcotics that I was going to sell on the street. Never mind the fact that I have never been in trouble with the law, always had a job, always paid my taxes and have done volunteer work for most of my life. All of that didn't seem to matter. Once I requested narcotics - the only thing that will relieve my pain - I was branded a drug addict, and treated accordingly. I don't deserve such treatment - no law-abiding citizen deserves that.
As I told my story to various people, I was shocked to learn that many Americans are in the same situation as myself. Story after story sounded strangely familiar until I came to the realization that something has to change. In our efforts to control the 2 percent of our population, we are denying the 98 percent the relief that they not only need, but deserve. No one in America should have to live with chronic pain. It is a basic right of a free people to make their own decisions about the quality of their life. If that quality of life includes taking narcotic pain relievers every day for the rest of their life, it is their life - who is the government to deny them the relief that they so desperately need?
Chronic pain brings with it depression and anxiety that can force its victim into a downward spiral that sometimes ends in the ultimate solution - suicide. I wonder if we, as a people, are willing to tolerate that to try and control the addicted 2 percent?
Battle Creek Enquirer (MI)
Copyright: 2008 Battle Creek Enquirer
Contact: http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/customerservice/contactus.html
Website: http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com