Heart Bypass Surgery

Message: 12 Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1999 16:47:28 -0400 From: Skip Baker <skipb@... Subject: The Pain Relief Promotion Act of 1999 The Pain Relief Promotion Act of 1999 would amend the Controlled Substances Act and provide for federal penalties for physicians or pharmacists who prescribe or dispense controlled substances for patients at the end of life. The act provides that narcotics can be used to alleviate pain even it they shorten life, but such drugs cannot be used to aid a citizen's demise. That last line in itself is a total contradiction in terms yet there it is in this bill, so what doctor would dare treat pain when he wouldnt know where he stood legally if he did? The bottom line is that Henry Hyde and Senator Nickles wrote this bill because they are opposed to the Suicide Law in Oregon, and their attempts to deal with it last year failed over an onslaught from everyone concerned with the Pain Crisis. Since their Lethal Drug Abuse Prevention Act of 1998 didnt fly, they tried to tack it onto the Budget bill at the last minute once they saw solid opposition to it, and even that failed. The Pain Relief Promotion Act of 1999 is only THIS years attempt to kill the Oregon Suicide Law. Making it look like a bill to improve pain relief, seemed like a good idea at the time, but when you look closely it has fatal flaws, that if passed, would just increase our suffering as Chronic Pain Patients! Its nearly impossible to get pain medication as it is! As the The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC) reports in an article by David Work on July 30, entitled: Relief from the Pain Relief Act he points out that the National Hospice Organization has endorsed the current bill. And at first glance this looks like a good bill, in describing palliative care as a positive concept. As one looks closer however it becomes obvious that it would hinder the treatment of pain even more than our present situation does, which is described by NIH as a "National Disaster in the under treatment of pain. Anymore road blocks put up before doctors who would dare treat pain, and we may as well set up Euthanasia Centers all over the country to take care of the extra suicides that it would cause. The irony is that its his religious opposition to suicide that drives Henry Hyde to keep coming up with these bills in the first place. If he just didnt have that rabid opposition to narcotic pain medicine for chronic pain then there wouldnt be this problem go begin with. As Mr. Work writes in his article: The end-of-life position is fine as religious doctrine but its crossover to law creates obvious trouble. For example, in traditional Christian dogma confession is the first step toward forgiveness and salvation. On the other hand, confession under the Federal Controlled Substances Act, is the first step toward harsh penalties. This is one good example of why religion and government just don't mix. Citizens in Oregon have twice passed this law aimed at permitting a person suffering great pain to get help from their doctors to die. The irony is how hard it is to get ANYTHING for pain in both Washington and Oregon, so I think the Oregon Suicide Law came out of that problem of no narcotic pain relief no matter how bad you may hurt. Provide adequate access to pain medicine to the folks in Oregon, and they wont want a Suicide Law in the first place, but Hyde and Nickles just cant seem to see that fact. The Hyde/Nickles bill looks to be a real gift horse in that it provides for millions of dollars for a grant to study pain, and why its not being treated, but we already KNOW why its not being treated, and weve had countless studies already learning the impediment is the extra Constitutional powers of the DEA that is holding it up! Remove the DEA as a road block to pain control, and you will accomplish everything that Hyde and Nickles seek to accomplish and do it fast to boot. The Conquering Pain Act of 1999 by Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon on the other hand, is a far better bill that "enjoys the support of doctors, nurses and pain advocates all over the nation, so why not go that direction? As author Work points out: The Hyde/Nickles bill is an unwarranted interference in states' rights when federal action on a DEA registrant could effectively prevent pharmacists or physicians from practicing their profession even though they have valid state licenses. Remember, THIS is the bill we want passed into law: The Conquering Pain Act of 1999. And THIS is the bill we DONT want passed: The Pain Relief Promotion Act of 1999. To remember it just think that it is better to Conquer something, than it is to be a Promoter of something, and that will help you keep them separate. Skip Baker --