Hospitals Brace Patients For Pain To Reduce Risk Of Opioid Addiction [npr.org]

 I wish we would have a more informed conversation on pain and the origins of addiction that was based on the science of adversity.   It didn’t come up at our morning meeting.   But even if it did, we cannot change policy that has been given to us by the state.  

Tina, I am hopeful that with the support of this community and others that want to do things differently, we CAN inform the conversation on pain and addiction to get to underlying issues AND we can together change policy at the state (and Fed) level!  Keep doing the great work you and doing and partner and look for other partners in MI to join hands and voices about the importance of looking at addiction through an ACEs science informed lens!

We talked about this today at the PHarmacy and Theraputics meeting.   However, Pain as the Fifth Vital Sign was promoted by pharma lobbyists and not your average doctor.   Patients were given  satisfaction questionnaires that assessed our treatment of pain and administrators took those surveys seriously - average docs were mandated to treat pain.   Opioids like OxyContin were vigorously promoted to do that.  Fortunately as a Pedi, I didn’t have to deal with this, however, now I see colleagues stopping all Opioid scripts for long term users even if the patient doesn’t habitually increase their dose or doctor shop without Medication assisted therapy or any alternative treatment.  Even hospice or cancer patients are at risk.    Rural patients are going underground and buying Heroin off the street and dying from synthetic opioids laced with fentanyl and carfentanyl.  Rates of Hepatitis C and HIV are increasing including in infants through trans-placental passage.  I wish we would have a more informed conversation on pain and the origins of addiction that was based on the science of adversity.   It didn’t come up at our morning meeting.   But even if it did, we cannot change policy that has been given to us by the state.  I will continue to educate and do all I can. There is a much more humane way forward and what we are doing isn’t it.