PHARMACIST STEVE

Give Pain a Voice – pained lives matter

8 Responses

1. 

   painkills2, on May 11, 2015 at 10:55 pm said:

   If they overdose and die, it’s their own fault… Really? The drug war isn’t even a little bit to blame? If those who suffer from addiction didn’t have to go to the street for treatment?

   Addiction and other mental illnesses aren’t part of the problem either? Domestic violence, child abuse, PTSD, not even part of the equation? Lack of affordable health care?

   Pain patients can keep pointing the finger at other patients, but that doesn’t seem to be helping, does it? It just makes pain patients look like they have no sympathy or empathy for others who are also suffering. It makes it look like chronic pain is somehow superior to mental illness — more deserving of treatment. After all, some chronic pain patients are demanding adequate treatment for their medical conditions, but feel that those who suffer from mental illness deserve whatever they get.

   By the way, May is National Mental Health Awareness Month. Perhaps pain patients can take time during this month to really learn about what happens in the brain when someone suffers from domestic violence, child abuse, rape, poverty, and all the other things that can cause addiction. Along with the reasons why some chronic pain patients become addicted to their medications, like misdiagnosis, mistreatment, and under-treatment of pain.

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2. 

   Terri Anderson, on May 11, 2015 at 10:28 pm said:

   Montana has a high rate of spinal surgeries, high rate of “intervention” and Epidural Steroid Injections, a war on chronic pain patients, a war on doctors who treat patients with opioids, and a high suicide rate:

   http://www.sprc.org/sites/sprc.org/files/Preliminary%20Report%20from%20the%20Montana%20Suicide%20Mortality%20Review%20Team.pdf

   The regulators are targeting the wrong physician (Ibsen) who is respected by his patients. Plus the Montana BOME has an interventional pain doc on the Board! Here she is:

   http://www.vitals.com/doctors/Dr_Kristin_Spanjian.html

   Could this be a conflict of interest?

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3. 

   Michelle Jones, on May 11, 2015 at 7:41 pm said:

   Those of us in chronic pain shouldn’t be discriminated against or suffer because of other’s narcotic abuse. It is cruel and inhumane. This problem has put our lives in jeopardy. I guarantee, there will be dire consequences for some people. This is not patient care, it’s political games being played by government officials who do not know how it feels physically, and psychologically, to live with severe pain every minute, every day. Don’t talk to me about physical dependence either. If an opiate can allow me to function and have a better quality of life, that is what matters. Shame on the DEA and the doctors who foolishly fear them. Prescribing opiates for those of us with real, documented histories of chronic pain shouldn’t be a concern. Those who have abused them will always find other ways to get high. If they overdose and die, it is a direct result of the choices they have made. It is called, personal responsibility. Prohibition and what has occurred in the lives of some is a perfect example of what responsibilities come with personal freedom and choice. Stop treating those of us in need of narcotic treatment as drug seeking junkies. We’ve lost enough of our lives to our pain, don’t try to take our dignity also.

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     Patricia Karsner, on May 11, 2015 at 9:16 pm said:

     Well said

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     Tony Busch, on May 15, 2015 at 4:03 pm said:

     I too live with constant chronic pain. While I have just started along this journey in comparison to others who have been on it for longer than the 5 years of mine I have found that it is a system of undertreatment for pain patients. There are multiple factors in this that include the DEA and their unjust war on Pain Doctors. It also is partly society’s fault. The discrimination against addicts is horrendous. We know this as we are treated as addicts when we seek to fill our prescriptions. Yet every single pain patient who has endured this experience will state I am not an addict. That is the bias right there. I do it too. We demonize and place a huge stigma on addiction to any substance and narcotics addition is one of the worse. There is little call for reform and improvement in addiction treatment. There is a huge lack of funding and resources for those who want to kick the habit and when they do find a place they are stigmatized even more. We need more treatment for addicts, even those who got there through their own dumb choices.
     We have so much work to do to fix this issue. We need to work with all parties, even the idiots over at the DEA so we can educate them. Only when we work together can we fix this

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       painkills2, on May 15, 2015 at 8:27 pm said:

       Thank you, Tony, for not blaming those who suffer from addiction and mental illness. As an intractable pain patient, I have come out of the closet and admitted my addictions, including being addicted to pain relief. To obtain relief from the constant pain, I have done many things that I’m not proud of, as I’m sure many other pain patients have also. But we are all human and should all be treated equally, no matter what medical conditions we suffer from.

       Since I am no longer addicted to the medical industry, I can say that any pain patient who is dependent on doctors and the drugs they prescribe is also suffering from addiction. Pain patients who freely give up their rights just so they can keep filling their prescriptions every month suffer from a type of addiction, whether they believe it or not. I know, I used to be one of them.

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     nananancyneuhaus, on August 13, 2015 at 3:12 pm said:

     Chronic pain patients (and even those that have or will have temporary pain conditions) are all making the same statements. Your post could be my exact words which I just said today to someone. I’m still looking for a way to get all of us heard – my dream is to print each and every comment, post, story, etc., by those suffering, printing them and plopping them down on the President’s desk. Even he couldn’t ignore the problem although it’s funny that it never comes up in debates, or the TALK shows. Maybe my dream report can be given to the news channels, The View, Today Show…what do you think? No one will hear or know about this serious issue unless they look for it.

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4. 

   mark ibsen, on May 11, 2015 at 6:39 pm said:

   Yes They do. To all of us!

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