By German Lopez
New data shows (click here) people are being diagnosed with opioid addiction nearly eight times faster than they’re getting the standard of care...
In a book entitled "Health Policy and Politics" there is an entry discussing the ABILITY of prescribing pain medication which references the DEA and then Attorney General John Ashcroft. Page 167 (click here) The idea prescribing nurses saw a problem with the government should be an alert to everyone that something is very wrong with our view of the world.
In 1995, the "Pain Management Society" designated pain as "the fifth vital sign." (click here) The problem is profound and effects us as a country. The professions are at odds as to what to do to contain pain and end opioid addiction. Until the country's addicted, the government and the medical profession come up with solutions to end such deadly trends in the USA, opioid addiction must be treated and lives saved. It is wrong to abandon so many and abandon society in general.
April 18, 2017
...The Joint Commission (click here) first established standards for pain assessment and treatment in 2001 in response to the national outcry about the widespread problem of undertreatment of pain. The Joint Commission’s current standards require that organizations establish policies regarding pain assessment and treatment and conduct educational efforts to ensure compliance. The standards DO NOT require the use of drugs to manage a patient’s pain; and when a drug is appropriate, the standards do not specify which drug should be prescribed.
Our foundational standards are quite simple. They are:
The hospital educates all licensed independent practitioners on assessing and managing pain.
The hospital respects the patient's right to pain management.
The hospital assesses and manages the patient's pain....
BY DEFINITION THIS IS A GOVERNMENT PROBLEM. It is a federal government problem because it brings to bear the entire country experiencing this problem, professionals at odds with their treatment plans, their patients well being and the government standards for law enforcement.
Local law enforcement was the most active in recognizing A MAJOR PROBLEM in our society and instituted rescue plans for citizens that then enter into a relationship with the law enforcement community to end the addiction and redefine a productive life lost to that addiction.
Natalia E. Morone, MD, MS and Debra K. Weiner, MD, Clin Ther. 2013 Nov; 35(11): 1728–1732.
In clinical practice pain as the 5th vital sign (click here) has proven to be more complex to assess, evaluate, and manage than originally anticipated. It has also had some serious consequences which were never intended. Associated with the national push to adequately manage patients in pain has been a rise in prescription opioids as well as a rise in opioid related death. Guided by pain as the 5th vital sign mandates, patients report pain and expect their providers to respond. Many clinicians do not know what the appropriate response is because they lack adequate education in the approach, examination, and management of patients in pain. Pain education starting in medical school and through postgraduate training usually involves piecemeal incorporation of pain topics into existing curricula or clinical rotations, without devoted stand-alone class-time....
The federal government MUST address the Opioid Crisis in the USA from all perspectives and provide treatment to the people AND local law enforcement so they can continue their vital work.
Abandoning the problems of the country is INCOMPETENCE and it has to end!
The Democrats passed The Affordable Care Act to begin to heal a country up to their necks in medical neglect and skyrocketing costs. That is competent government. To end these programs is Plutocratic vision of personal wealth to a few Americans, that is CORRUPTION and Americans die because of it!
Kentucky (click here)
Roughly 45% of all Kentuckians who enter treatment for substance abuse do so for opioid abuse—the 8th highest proportion in the country.
Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
