We need to better educate ourselves better about medications such as OxyContin, OxyIR and alike. While it is true that there are stupid people out there that are taking these drugs for all the wrong reasons, I know that for the last 11 years they've given me back life. By the way in addition to the two above, I'm also on my 2nd internal morphine pump to round out the way we manage my pain. According to my pain doc (who's also the president of our hospital), less than 3% (some reports show less than 1%) of those who are taking opioid type medication ever get hooked.

Another interesting fact is that people who are in constant chronic pain always seem to hoard medication instead of taking every pill they've got since they know just how bad it can get, hence they're always worried about tomorrow. I could walk into my doctors office any day of the week and always have not only the supply I'm suppose have, but an excess since I do plan for a rainy day.

When I read about people who claim they are not getting the pain relief they need, I always ask what kind of relationship they've built up over time with their doctor first. Hey, we're talking about medication worth thousands per month in street value so all doctors have the right to know if they're taking care of pain or if they're just supporting a standard of living. It's only through years of trust and total openness over everything that these kinds of relationships can be forged.

When a patient goes in and tells the doctor their pain levels are at 9 or 10, they'd either be passed out or with a blood pressure of 250/130, because like it or not our bodies do have plenty of ways of physically showing the severity of the pain we're currently experiencing. It's time we stop blaming the doctors for not caring, but instead accept the fact that a whole lot of drug abusers have made doctors a lot less trustful and for all the right reasons.

I still believe that there are plenty of really caring doctors who do care and act upon it, but the body damage/illness must be there for the doctors to justify the reasons why they're writing out scripts. Without the documentation and physical damage, I'm sorry to say that there's simply no possible way a doctor can hand out hard hitting pain medication like they're M & M's. They are a life saver and giver, but they must be handled responsibly. That responsibility starts with me.