Pubdate: Thu, 31 Mar 2016
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2016 The New York Times Company
Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Scott McLain
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v16/n162/a06.html

FIGHTING THE SCOURGE OF OPIOID ABUSE

To the Editor:

Re "A Strong Response to the Opioid Scourge" (editorial, March 17):

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has done a disservice 
to people living with intractable chronic pain with its latest 
one-sided recommendations for reducing opiate overuse - 
recommendations that you praise.

I worked in a drug treatment facility and have seen the ravages of 
addiction, and I know the risks of opiate use. When I suffered 
multiple severe injuries from a fall, I tried every treatment I could 
find to reduce my suffering without narcotics. None came close to 
reducing it to a tolerable level. Grudgingly, I came to the 
conclusion that pain medicines were going to have to be part of my 
comprehensive approach to pain management.

There is a legitimate use for pain meds for treating chronic pain; it 
is absolutely wrong to suggest that most chronic pain can be 
adequately treated without narcotics. It is time the C.D.C. took a 
more balanced look at both sides of this complicated issue and not 
let the fear of one group override the legitimate lifesaving use by another.

SCOTT McLAIN

Olympia, Wash.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom