As a health journalist specializing in spine, I frequently hear varying opinions about pain, pain relief and the politics surrounding these important issues.
I've learned to keep my mind open about the usefulness of treatments, including ones I would likely not consider for myself. At the same time, I've read and heard some pretty sad stories about how innocent people (apparently not drug addicts) in terrible pain have died because of mistakes made by drug companies, about compassionate doctors who, after giving the dosage of narcotic pain relievers that in their estimation would really relieve their patients' back pain, ended up in jail for it, and about people whose quality of life was forever altered for the worse after spine surgeries (disc replacement and others) they perhaps didn't even need. Can you add to this list? Or do you have an opposite experience? Leave your comment below.
My observation is there's a growing (albeit very slow in many peoples' views) awareness on the part of the medical establishment and the government of pain as a national public health crisis. To this end, in 2011 the Institute of Medicine produced a report entitled "Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education and Research." The report was produced in response to a request by the National Institute of Health (NIH), and provides an assessment of the state of the science of pain medicine. It also offers recommendations to the federal government on advancing the pain management field. The assessment and recommendations touch on data collection, medical education, inclusiveness, and other things.
It will take a while before all recommendations are implemented, but during the coming year (2012) you may see the following:
- Designation of a lead institute within the NIH to "move pain research forward"
- Development of a comprehensive pain management strategy for the country
- Development of a strategy that addresses barriers to care for pain patients
- Support for collaboration between primary care docs and pain specialists.
Source:
IOM. Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and Research. National Academy of Sciences. June 2011.
