Chronic Pain Sufferers Say Pain Medication Rules Unfair

A small rally was held Tuesday outside the University of Washington Medical Center. It was one of four rallies statewide -- and many more across the country -- to raise awareness of the difficulties patients with chronic debilitating pain are dealing with now that the U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on prescribing pain meds are causing doctors to scale down or eliminate opioid medications that people like her say they need to function.

"The CDC has never seen my medical records, they have never examined me. They have no right to change my prescription," says Micki Forrester, who added that she use to have a vigorous and active lifestyle before her disease showed itself in 2007.

Forrester says she understands the new CDC guidelines came about from the national health crisis that has been emerging from the historic over-prescribing of pain medications. CDC numbers show that more than 350,000 Americans died from prescription and illegal opioids between 2009 and 2016. But, Forrester says the new 2016 guidelines are too strict and put bureaucrats between her and her doctor.  (Q13 Fox News, September 18, 2018)

 

An April 26, 2018 article in the New England Journal of Medicine stated that 'a flood of new prescribing rules severely limits physicians options and burdens them with extensive administrative hurdles. “Drugs are being denied by insurance companies” and pharmacies aren’t stocking sufficient quantities of opioids, leaving our staff to go through a lot of paperwork, so there are wait times, said Sue Glod, MD, a palliative medicine specialist at Penn State College of Medicine.
--

This is a battle between physicians being able to treat patients and prescribe needed drugs, and big government wanting to control opioid abuse, and control the lives of each individual citizen needing medication to help control severe and chronic pain.

The CDC has stated "Prescription opioids are often used to treat chronic and acute pain and, when used appropriately, can be an important component of treatment. However, serious risks are associated with their use, and it is essential to carefully consider the risks of using prescription opioids alongside their benefits. These risks include misuse, opioid use disorder (addiction), overdoses, and death."

Opioid abuse is an issue that should be addressed, but not at the expense of allowing physicians to properly and effectively treat their patients.