Move to Restrict Pain Killers Puts Onus on Doctors

There are few things more frustrating than having a loved one in pain and trying to find adequate relief. Because of DEA prosecutions and poor pain-management training in medical schools, many doctors are timid about prescribing some drugs. Those general practitioners who are less timid sometimes over-prescribe. And there are other horror stories, like the one told by Penn and Teller on their Showtime series Bulls--t! about a man who was prosecuted THREE times by a zealous prosecutor for taking the drugs prescribed to him until the prosecutor could put him in prison for trafficking.

Moving those with chronic pain to a pain specialist, while it seems like a lot of government interference, may be the best thing for patients. Most well-run pain centers set up strict guidelines to weed out pain-free addicts and to avoid resale of the drugs they prescribe, and understand how to work with fairly hazardous drugs to be able to gradually increase dosage to overcome tolerance without putting the patient's life at risk.

If the DEA and local prosecutors could get better training as well the world would be a much better place for those in extreme pain and the families that care for them.