House Hearing on DEA's Regulation of Pain Medicine

By Jeralyn, Section Crime Policy
Posted on Thu Jul 12, 2007 at 06:23:00 AM EST
Tags: pain doctors (all tags)

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The House Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security is holding a hearing at today at 10:00 am on the DEA's regulation of pain medecine. The live feed is here. The witnesses:

Joseph T. Rannazzisi
Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Diversion Control United States Drug Enforcement Administration, United States Department of Justice Washington, DC
David Murray
Director of Counter Drug Technology, ONDCP, The White House Washington, DC
Edward J. Heiden Ph.D.
Heiden Associates Inc., Washington, DC
Valerie Corral
Founder of WAMM, Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana Davenport, CA
Siobhan Reynolds
President, Pain Relief Network, Santa Fe, NM
John Flannery
Attorney, Campbell, Miller, Zimmerman, PC, and Author of Pain in America and How the Government Makes it Worse Leesburg, VA

John Flannery and Siobhan Reynolds will be excellent witnesses. You can read Ms. Reynolds' written testimony here. It begins:

Thank you for asking me to speak on the current situation facing patients in chronic pain. We come to you seeking your protection from the Drug Enforcement Administration, an agency out-of-control, an agency that has demonstrated no respect for the rights of ill Americans, nor for the rule of law itself…

It's time we got the DEA off the backs of pain doctors so the 75 million Americans who live in chronic pain can get some relief.

More...

The goal of the Pain Relief Network:

We are here to abolish the Controlled Substances Act so that society will have to rationally regulate these important medicines, ensuring that those who need them can get them without fear of prosecution. The criminalization of doctors and patients must stop. The doctor/patient relationship must be restored to the privileged position in society it once enjoyed.

It is time to put the medical needs of the vulnerable ahead of the political aspirations of the powerful.

TChris and I have written a lot on this issue and feel strongly about it. I hope you'll tune in to see the gravity of the situation.

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House Hearing on DEA's Regulation of Pain Medicine | 4 comments (4 topical)

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Read about the DEA raid on WAMM (none / 0) (#1)
by altogether on Thu Jul 12, 2007 at 02:42:30 AM EST

Valerie Corral
Founder of WAMM, Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana Davenport, CA is one of the invited witnesses. Her story is incredible. Check it out on WAMM.org. Thanks for caring.

Just like Dr, House (none / 0) (#2)
by lilybart on Thu Jul 12, 2007 at 07:11:00 AM EST

So what if someone takes what the government thinks is too many painkillers?

What business does government have over what we do to or with our bodies? As long as we know what the drugs do and that they are safe in general, people should make their own decisions.

God I hate these self-righteous controlling prigs.

: Right on bro.... (none / 0) (#3)
by kdog on Thu Jul 12, 2007 at 05:32:29 PM EST

While we are at it, why not get doctors off the backs of people in pain as well?
Case in point, I had a killer toothache earlier in the week. The dental school where I get my dental work done doesn't start new treatment plans in the summer, so I just gotta deal with the pain till the end of August, which is fine. But why do I have to go to the dope-man on the corner for some painkillers to get me through the days when the pain really acts up? That sh*t pisses me off. Why can't I just go to the drug store, like back in 1919, without the permission slip? Why must we all be treated like children?

Chronic Pain (none / 0) (#4)
by KLCarten on Thu Jul 12, 2007 at 07:51:07 PM EST

I wanted to thank Jeralyn for posting on this. I wouldn't have even been aware of this. I go to a pain management clinic for O.A in both hips. Since I am in my 30s, my doctor wants to wait as long as possible before replacing both hips. Now it seems under DEA rules, I'm an addict. The upside is I can live my life without pain and do things I haven't been able to do in years. The downside after reading the witness list, is that not only am I an addict. The pain clinic I go to, can be raided and my doctor sent to jail. How screwed up is that?!! You would think that DEA has enough to worry about. So, I guess I need to talk to my doctor next month about what this means for me. In the mean time, I guess its on the phone calling the reps on the committee. Is there anything else we can do to stop penalizing doctors and patients and help congress understand?