Chronic pain management is officially part of the war on
drugs.
The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Justice
Department have had such bad results with controlling
the illegal importation and use of heroin and cocaine
that both departments have turned their focus on
pain-management clinics to get some "success"
stories.
With a growing population of people suffering from
severe chronic pain, prescribing strong opiates such as
Oxycontin, have risen. Oxycontin, a Schedule III drug,
gives up to 12 hours of time released pain control.
But it has also become the favorite drug of choice
for illegal sale on the streets. Why? If you crush the
pill, the user gets an instantaneous high similar to
heroin - without using a needle. Since it's a legal
prescription drug, finding an unscrupulous doctor is
much easier than finding a heroin dealer.
This has resulted in a war between physicians, the
DEA and patients who truly need strong medication. The
DEA doesn't care about the enormous impact they are
having on the good doctors and patients who follow the
law. The DEA is watching pain-management clinics, mostly
those owned or operated by minorities, to find a rotten
apple in the barrel.
But if you're rich, like conservative talk-radio host
Rush Limbaugh or Rep. Patrick Kennedy, the Massachusetts
Democrat, there's no need to go through the "prove
it" gauntlet. All they have to do is lay out the
cash. Only the poor have to prove the pain.
Doctors have had to find a way to demonstrate to the
DEA that patients are not selling their prescriptions on
the streets. Some clinics have devised a prescription
contract that the patient and physician must sign
outlining how the patient will receive the medications
they need.
Many physicians have stopped prescribing opiates,
sending patients to pain-management clinics that are
more expensive. Pain-management clinics must prove what
treatments have been tried and failed by ordering
several tests, which can take as long as six months
before they conclude how severe the patient's pain is.
Federal law classifies most opioids as Schedule III
drugs, despite a growing body of opinion among the
medical community that opioids should not be classified
as these substances.
One of the DEA'S few Congressional critics is
libertarian Republican Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.
"Unfortunately, patients often must consume very
large amounts of opioids to obtain long-term relief.
Some prescriptions may be for hundreds of pills and last
only a month. A prescription this large may appear
suspicious.
"But according to many pain-management
specialists, it is medically necessary in many cases to
prescribe a large number of pills to effectively treat
chronic pain. However, zealous prosecutors show no
interest in learning the basic facts of pain
management."
The war on drugs has failed. It's time to admit it
and move on - to rewriting drug laws that are realistic
and effective.
McKee, a wheelchair user, is a freelance writer
and producer. You can e-mail her at chairgrrl@chairgrrl.com.
