Pubdate: Sat, 09 Jul 2016
Source: Medicine Hat News (CN AB)
Page: A3
Copyright: 2016 Alberta Newspaper Group, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.medicinehatnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1833
Author: Gillian Slade

PAIN SUFFERERS ARE NOT ADDICTS, GROUP SAYS

It is time to stop the war on chronic pain patients who are treated 
as though they are opioid addicts, says the Chronic Pain Association of Canada.

"The large majority of pain patients are not addicts or abusers. Most 
do not get high from taking prescription opioids, even if they become 
physically dependent on them in controlling their pain," said 
executive director Barry Ulmer.

When a chronic pain patient visits their family doctor and talks 
about pain the assumption is often that they are an addict, said 
Ulmer. There is a stigma attached.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S. issued 
"voluntary guidelines" regarding opioids that have evolved in Canada 
into an agenda to eliminate opioids altogether, said Ulmer. He says 
this simply drives doctors away from pain management and chronic pain 
patients into agony.

Chronic pain patients are taken off opioids, offered detoxification 
and alternative therapies such as physical therapy and acupuncture.

"Chronic pain patients have probably done those things not once but 
twice and it is not the solution to the physical pain," said Ulmer.

Giving them no medication to control the pain leaves them in anguish, 
said Ulmer. There is evidence that most substance abuse does not come 
from doctors prescribing.

It stems from the illicit use of fentanyl coming in from China, said 
Ulmer. Most people choosing fentanyl on the street are looking for a 
high rather than wanting to control chronic physical pain.

A national survey on drug use and health found 75 percent of all 
opioid misuse starts with people using medication that was not 
prescribed for them. They obtained it by some other means, said Ulmer.

Public attitudes and assumptions toward chronic pain must change. A 
fraction of the millions diagnosed with chronic pain conditions will 
be prescribed opioids. They do not work for all chronic pain, said 
Ulmer. Taking them away may contribute to a wave of suicides with a 
surge of people seeking out illicit substances out of desperation, he added.

"We will never reduce drug overdose deaths by denying relief from the 
agony of millions (of chronic pain patients)," said Ulmer.

While marijuana is not a panacea, it does have a role to play for 
some chronic pain patients. The recent opening of a medical marijuana 
clinic in Medicine Hat is seen as a viable alternative at the moment. 
Ulmer is concerned this will be sort lived.

Research papers, after looking at small samples of people, are 
already raising concerns about the negative effects of medical 
marijuana, said Ulmer. By the time marijuana is legalized in Canada 
the government is likely to put considerable restrictions in place.

Even though chronic pain affects more people than cancer, heart 
disease and diabetes combined, the topic is a minor part of medical 
school curriculums. Ulmer says it is going to take a massive paradigm 
shift on the part of medical schools, medical governing bodies and 
Canadians in general to address this.
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