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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (126970)	7/23/2005 1:12:27 PM
From: Ilaine	Respond to of 793896

Re: the war on prescription pain medication. It's somewhat more complex than doctors as easy targets. Medical ethics have changed in the past generation. It's now considered good medicine to give strong narcotics to people in chronic pain. It is now understood that chronic pain itself can cause damage due to lack of sleep and depression, which then cause an increase in pain. Lack of sleep interferes with healing. But also, there's just no reason for people to suffer. Addiction can be managed. So there are doctors who specialize in the treatment of pain. And this may be controversial. Some believe that addiction is always wrong, even if the patient is dying of cancer. I think this way of thinking is outmoded, but still persists. Not just that, but there are always "Dr. Feelgoods" who may not have criminal intent, just more willing to prescribe painkillers than they should be. And there are also unscrupulous doctors who really are criminals.