Articles Contained in SIRS Enduring Issues 2006.

Originally Published: A New Battlefront in the War on Drugs, March 2005; pp. 60-61.

"Some lawmakers and various media outlets have been waging a very public war against the abusers of prescription painkillers, but they might be fighting for an unjust cause. The publicity surrounding radio personality Rush Limbaugh's personal battle with the prescription drugs OxyContin and hydrocodone served to open the floodgates of opposition against these medications and the doctors who prescribe them. Physicians, however, are not the only ones being put under the microscope. Patients who take prescription medications oftentimes are painted as drug addicts, pill poppers, and 'doctor chasers,' and, in many cases, forced to justify their diseases or need for medications. Yet, for those with chronic pain, prescription painkillers often are the only thing offering relief and the ability to lead a somewhat normal life." (USA TODAY MAGAZINE) This article discusses how efforts by the Drug Enforcement Agency to curtail "the nation's supply of prescription medications" has made it increasingly difficult for "chronic pain sufferers...to obtain prescriptions for painkillers and access to medications." The author contends that "rather than focusing all efforts on preventing patients from obtaining prescription drugs, more emphasis should be placed on finding alternative and innovative methods of treating pain."

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