This is a comment that was made on this post on my blog
Do some lives matter more than others ?
IMO, this brings home the point as to the physical/mental desperation that some chronic painers have reached, who have been denied pain management or provided some “token doses” to treat their otherwise debilitating pain. This is no small minority in our society. I did not want this person’s story to be just a comment or “foot note” that may have otherwise gone unnoticed.
I have Adhesive Arachnoiditis, CRPS and a host of diagnoses that cause constant, debilitating pain. At 31 years old, I was on a small dose of Vicodin, antidepressants (low dose for neurogenic pain), Gabapentin, Flexeril and NSAIDS. At this point, I’d been living with this pain for four years. I now know that I was horribly under medicated for my condition. I wrote a clear note as to why I was leaving, left my drivers’ license with organ donor status and called 911 with the hope that my organs could be preserved for donation. I was outside and put the gun to my brain stem. At that moment, I was tackled by a neighbor who’d overheard my brief call to 911.
Had I been successful in my attempt, I have little doubt that my death would have been documented as Opiod related or R/T “Opiod use disorder” rather than unrelenting physical pain.
I have little doubt that suicides resulting from Chronic Pain are oft reported as Opiod related deaths, fueling the misleading data on the number of deaths related to “drugs” weather they are legally prescribed and being taken as directed or not.
In my County, no matter the cause of death, if Opiates are in the system of the deceased, the death is automatically recorded as drug related. HOW is this fair, accurate or providing accurate information about drug related deaths? It seems to me it aids those who wish to ban pain relieving medications for all but cancer patients, those working in the drug and alcohol treatment field and the DEA.
People living with pain that is oft more severe than cancer pain do not seem to matter in the U.S.A.
Pained lives DO matter.
Filed under: General Problems
Even amongst patients, ones are judged as it is ignored that perhaps they are suffering at extreme levels. Add the duress of medical rights, needs, violated, failure to diagnose, unequal access to treatment, unequal social treatment and pain and suffering increases at dramatic levels.
It is not accurate to state a death is by pain meds, if in the system, and ignore suicide, disease, disease undiagnosed and not treated, lousy medical care, complications of other medicines, run down by the medical maze, run down by mere survival. I guarantee all these reasons for death have increased, by the absurd pain med laws, by medical and pharmaceutical leaving ones in pain and falsely judging, and by so many aspects of the mistreating medical maze; where suicides have to be on the rise.
Even the federal Center for Rare Diseases, publicly admitted last year that failure to diagnose is a huge health disparity. As female doctors are successfully suing at high rates, discrimination; it is still not publized that females, especially poor and single are discriminated in the medical industry at alarming levels. Even in patient groups, the poor, single female is biased. Treated literally, like a criminal or mental, for seeking medical care, punished for loving ones self, in a healthy concern.
The outspoken, advocating female is judged by society and even.patients. And I guarantee, is the highest, population of increasing suicides; that the last straw, of taking away pain med equal access and equal treatment at the hospital has led to a genocide of medical negligence and pain suffering, that is unnecessary suffering.
The pain medicine issues are not even addressed fully, if medical discrimination, medical negligence, and unequal access to even legal services are not included in the advocative front. Why ignore the already high suffering that was already going on, before the pain medicine issue? Is that not one of the strongest arguments that pain meds taken away, cannot be tolerated by ones already suffering injustices?
It is up to everyone, including patients, to stand up for all to have equal medical rights and to expose the full injustices of the system that are disturbingly habitual. The fact that rich, female doctors are winning every lawsuit of discrimination via their male doctor peers; clearly,the low status, female patient, is way more of a victim, and even a victim by female, patriarchal doctors.
Any unequal treatment we see or hear done to any patient, should be an outrage. And as it has been allowed; now even the middle class is without their pain meds. The story did not start with pain meds. It started with the poor, the females, the veterans, and even the poor children. In fact, every low income clinic had signs up to deny pain medicines, no matter the injury or disease symptoms.
Where was the public voice then? Where is the public voice of all health disparities, that even before the Center for Rare Disease admitted the national crisis of failure to diagnose; the CDC, NIH, and Harvard School of Public Health were just a few of the professionals, showing ample health disparities.
In college, the above was standard to discuss in classes. Yet, its treated with disdain, go bring it up, even in patient groups. Ignore any group mistreated, then its always inevitable that more people and groups will be also mistreated.
If ones are to authentically address the pain med issue and increasing suicides; then addressing the full history and context is needed, as well S caring to treat all disabled with dignity, even amongst ourselves.
How long were even the veterans ignored from the Veteran Scandal for years, as suicide and premature deaths were rapidly increasing? We cannot have double standards if want to win a pain cause. It is not even logical, and we cannot expect humanity from the system, if double standards even occur amongst patients.
All transgressions matter. And the pain med issue, is not an isolated issue, but a series of events.
And ones not valued by others or the system; are not the real value of a person; but discrimination.
Before I married my wife, she was mistreated and discriminated in multi- faceted ways. Just being present at the hospital, medical staff became more respectable. She never even did drugs, as every blood test shows. Yet, was treated as one or somatic; left in pain with delayed care causing even critical, adverse events at the hospital. Yet, noone got in trouble, except her, further libelled and further equal access denied by the libel of discriminations.
As it was studied repeatedly in college and graduate school; it was not new to me, just as well as medical discrimination is not unknown to medical doctors and staff. Why be surprised to meet a lady discriminated in negligence, as its been a pervasive issue in America, for decades. She is just one of countless many. Yet, ones act like a patient must have some deficiency.
It is easier to blame a person, and why are we surprised that even pharmacists are putting blame and deficiencies on legitimate patients; as pharmacists are only joining into the discriminatory history by medical and society that has been allowed and enabled.
What is the history of females, low income that were brutally institutionalized, without even mental illness? All of this, I stress, is commonly discussed in higher institutions of learning. Yet, as so ignored in the pain issue; its about time that it is brought up. Will a male, now voicing it, make a difference, an impact?
Agreed with author and hope life is better for the individual. I think there are many who have seriously considered suicide at one time or maybe even now. I have not been successful in tracking down any recorded “Over dose” or other suicides, which state because of chronic pain. Each and everyone of us knows many of these deaths are pain related.