Pain management in crisis!

Alicia Smith took her own life on March 16 because she couldn't stand the chronic pain any longer. (1) When federal agents arrested her physician, Dr. William Hurwitz, Alicia couldn't find anyone else willing to prescribe the large dose of opiates she needed to survive.

All over the country patients with chronic pain say they are having trouble finding adequate and proper medication. This is a public health catastrophe that cries out for reform.

Because prescription medicine now ranks number two among drugs most abused by adults and young people, the federal government plans to dramatically ramp up enforcement, ostensibly going after doctors who do not follow "sound medical practice". (2) Doctors have become so gun shy that the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons now advises its doctors not to prescribe opiates at all. (3)

The medical profession itself is part of the problem. In medical school, doctors get little if any training in pain management, so they either under-medicate or avoid chronic pain patients altogether. Patients with legitimate need for heavy medication, victims--of cancer, bone disease, botched surgery, etc.--seek out those few doctors like William Hurwitz who are willing to help. This raises a red flag for law enforcement since these ...