A few weeks ago I checked the Arizona Medical Board web page for any changes to the guidance the medical board provides to physicians who treat chronic pain. I was surprised to see that Substantive Policy Statement #7, the Guidelines for the Use of Controlled Substances for the Treatment of Chronic Pain, had been repealed.
The web page only said SPS #7 had been repealed in December 2014. Some Christmas present for all those Arizona citizens who live with chronic pain. Now their physicians have no guidance for treating chronic pain. Hopefully this is a temporary situation while the medical board issues new guidance for physicians.
My fear is that things will return to the way they were before the guidelines were issued in 1996. At that time physicians would simply tell pain patients, "I can't prescribe pain medications, or I'll lose my license", and tell patients to go away.
The abuse of heroin is going to increase, you see it's cheaper than pain pills on the street. As pain patients have few other options other than simply ending the pain.
People I talk to are not afraid to die, they're afraid to die in pain. We talk about patients rights to refuse medication, and their right to die when pain is too much. We don't talk about their right to pain relief.
If you know someone who has committed suicide because of chronic pain, please contact me. Only when patients file complaints and lawsuits over a physicians under treatment of pain, will things change.
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