US pressure group that pushed doctors to prescribe painkillers forced to close

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

US pressure group that pushed doctors to prescribe painkillers forced to close

● American Pain Society accused of being pawn of big pharma
● Group took nearly $1m from leading opioid manufacturers

Chris McGreal
Sat 25 May 2019 07.00 BST Last modified on Sat 25 May 2019 07.01 BST

A leading medical society, described by a US Senate report as a pawn of the pharmaceutical industry for its prominent role in pressuring doctors to prescribe opioids, is to shut down in the face of lawsuits blaming it for America’s worst drug epidemic.

The American Pain Society led the campaign to promote the concept of “pain as the fifth vital sign” which resulted in hospitals across the US introducing smiley-face pain scales into consulting rooms in the 2000s and requiring doctors to prioritize pain treatment.

Doctors said the policy resulted in patients in effect writing their own prescriptions because medics faced disciplinary action, including ethics hearings, if they did not satisfy demands for pain relief even in cases where it endangered patients.

The APS is one of a group of supposedly independent medical advocacy organizations that critics allege were captured by the drug industry and used to drive sales of narcotic painkillers that grew into a multibillion-dollar-a-year industry.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/25/american-pain-society-doctors-painkillers

[bitterross]

1. The NRA of Big Pharma. They've done lasting damage.

I have a co-worker who has a legitimate need for ongoing pain medication. Not due to some perceived need, due to actual, physical injury. A need that has been verified multiple times as he's had to change physicians when he changes jobs and medical plans (that's another whole crock of shit in this country).

Due to the over-prescribing and the opioid crisis it has become nearly impossible for him to have a proper supply of his meds. The doctors will only prescribe just enough, and sometimes not enough, to get him through the month. He has to keep making visits to confirm an established condition that isn't going away. Some days/months his pain varies and he runs out of his meds before the new allotment is allowed.

This is just wrong. I know this happens to more people than just him.

Fuck you greedy corporate bastards.