Dear Power Brokers at the CDC:

When you suffer from insomnia because you can’t manage your pain, you have lots of time to do stuff like this:

http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=CDC-2015-0112

Dear Power Brokers at the CDC:

After my doctor of 8 years passed away, I was forced to find another pain doctor in a different state. But after a short time, that doctor abandoned me to a cold-turkey detox and a close call with suicide. (I’ll never forgive you for that, Dr. Forest Tennant.)

After 25 years as an intractable pain patient, I finally decided to give up on the medical industry (after it took all my money and did more damage than good). But I had to move to another state to access a medical cannabis program (the cost of which, after a year in the program, was not in my Social Security Disability budget).

Because, you see, I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m one of the tens of millions of pain patients who cannot manage their constant pain without assistance. Yes, I’m off all the pills (thank you very much), so I know all too well what many pain patients are now facing — whether the CDC enacts these new regulations or not.

I’m also an intractable pain survivor who is not dependent on doctors, which means I’m no longer afraid to speak out. (Perhaps I should warn you that this is only my first comment.)

This country is not in the midst of an opioid “epidemic” (unless the definition of epidemic has changed). While the patient groups for chronic pain and those who suffer from addiction overlap, they are two separate and distinct groups. And both groups have a high risk of suicide. If more people die from suicide than from opioid-related causes, which is the epidemic?

Why is the CDC more concerned about the opioid war than it is about the suicide epidemic? Why is this agency advocating for torture instead of the adequate treatment of pain? Why is the CDC only concerned with addiction instead of the true epidemic of chronic pain? (Does this agency understand the difference between the two?)

In the future, I guess the CDC can’t and won’t be held accountable for the tragedies and deaths that will follow these new regulations, but there is no doubt that it WILL be responsible. And don’t think that 100 million pain patients will ever forget that.

The way I see it, the CDC can align itself with PFROP and the DEA (and against suffering patients), ending up on the wrong side of the drug war. Or, it can align itself with the facts, and in the end, save some lives. I guess it will all depend on how much the CDC wants to retain its already battered name and reputation.

I’ll be back. 🙂

(Also posted at https://painkills2.wordpress.com/)

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Guess what?  I’m back already…

If the CDC is going to advocate for torture instead of the adequate treatment of pain, then it should spend just as much time advocating for a federal right-to-die law. If there is an attorney willing to take my case for the right to die, without first being diagnosed with a terminal condition, please contact me at painkills2@aol.com.

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