Rolling back opioid prescribing restrictions is necessary. Cutting people with chronic pain off from their meds has pushed them to the street supply, where overdose risk is far greater. This was bad policy from the start. It’s okay to admit a mistake has been made. #CPP

Law abiding patients have three choices: Suffer Streets Suicide They ALL end the same The US gov is pushing people to the streets to be poisoned to death. The Canadian gov is letting people choose MAiD. The UK is looking at implementing something similar to MAiD. Either way, the gov ensures drugs are available to kill yourself, but not to live.

My greater concern is that the all out effort to force, coerce, or intimidate Doctors into denying pain patients sufficient doses of #OpioidRxs to control dangerous, deadly levels of chronic and often constant chronic, severe pain is not a ‘mistake’ but a very ill disguised goal of eliminating pain patients by way of the deadly complications which result when chronic, severe pain is ignored. My Dad was one of the victims of denied severe pain relief. The stress from the unmedicated post op pain caused deadly complications with his heart. He never went home from the hospital. I went to his surgeon’s office and sent a note from his waiting room requesting to talk to him about his post op denial of pain meds which resulted in my Dad’s death. He sent my note back to me wadded up into a ball.

The sad thing is, politicians do not really want to learn. Because then they wolud need to admit they made a mistake. As far as I know, THAT has never happened.

Thank you @stephenHRNRP! We appreciate you! If a bullet pressing against the spine isn’t enough to justify continuing a patient’s long term opioid therapy, then what IS?

Thank you Stephen. I had to stop working bc my pain meds were stopped. My whole life fell apart & is still in shambles bc of the lack of pain relief. I have a rare genetic motor neuron disease, hemorrhaging spinal cord, Syringomelia, severe disk degeneration & scoliosis & more

The general public relied on their general good luck to help severely limit opioids after surgery and for the worst pain. Someday people learn how foolish and cruel that is.

“those patients” aren’t accessing illicit substances enmasse- but suffer/die from fatal “unintended consequences” A purposeful fail 2 measure “outcomes.” PH officials were duly warned re: ⬆️mortality prior to implementation of flawed policy, MDs R unjustly prosecuted enmasse.”⤵️

We live in a free country? If you live with chronic pain without medication, you are not free. You cannot live life. Don't get me going on the mental affects of living in chronic pain. They wonder why people are ready to give up. Quality of life is dead w pain.

No one, including MDs, can fully grasp the desperation and sense of futility that untreated pain brings. Understanding seems to only come when it happens to them or a loved one. Not surprised that ppl are turning to desperate measures under current policies.

When patents for name brand medicines expire, the price of that medicine drops significantly as generic versions enter the market, but that process can take a while. Watch a new video in STAT's 'Behind the Counter' series:

Well said. Thank you for your work