Archive for: July 2008

It seems to me an uncivilized and insane notion that just because someone in current moderate to severe pain had a history of an alcohol or drug problem, or even a current substance abuse problem, that you would deny them opioid therapy if that was the best medication to relieve their suffering. But this seems to be a point of confusion that increasingly comes up from patients, doctors, and regulators alike. So, in this post, let me make the medical standard of care in this situation perfectly clear. [...]

Excerpt: “As usual, the academics ignore the elephant in the living room. Regarding review articles that wring their hands about the lack of long term evidence of the safety and efficacy of opioid analgesic therapy, they never discuss the impossibility of measuring the efficacy and safety of a therapy that almost no physician is comfortable doing properly. For an excellent analysis of what we might call the “new academic opiophobia,” see the Pain Relief Network’s 2008 “WA State Tort Claim” pages 34 – 37.”

A federal judge on Thursday denied the government\’s efforts to gag defense attorneys, family and supporters of a Kansas doctor accused of unlawfully prescribing medication. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Monti Belot said the government had not shown a compelling government interest in restraining speech.

***Pain Relief Network files State Tort Claim vs. WA State***; Laura Cooper, Esq.; [Pain Relief Network][prn]; 2008/07/08. [**Full text PDF**] **Permalink:** http://doctordeluca.com/wordpress/archive/prn-tort-claim-vs-wa/ **See also:** [**PRN Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief, and Damages**][d1] – 2008 and, [**WA's Interagency Guideline on Opioid Dosing for Non-Cancer Pain**][d2] – 2007 —- SUMMARY: Nature of Relief Sought: This lawsuit is the result of grossly misinformed prejudices about opioid(1) pain medications held by high-level Washington public health officials. Those prejudices are identified in medical literature …

Academic quality, fully footnoted, article on why untreated or undertreated chronic pain is a medical emergency.