To convict one doctor, zealots at DEA tore up pain guidelines developed over four years.Last August, after an historic collaboration between the Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was established in 1973 by President richard m. nixon as part of the Justice Department, thus uniting a number of federal drug agencies that had often worked at cross-purposes. and the University of Wisconsin's Pain & Policy Studies Group, the DEA DEA - Data Encryption Algorithm published new and widely applauded Pain Management Guidelines intended to protect physicians from prosecution by overzealous federal agents. In October the DEA suddenly withdrew the Guidelines, effectively trashing years of effort. Why? According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the Washington Post, "The DEA's abrupt turnaround appeared to have been triggered when defense lawyers tried to introduce the new Guidelines in the trial of Dr. (William) Hurwitz"--a Virginia pain specialist accused of over-prescribing. Shortly after the Guidelines were withdrawn, the US prosecutor successfully petitioned the court to exclude them as evidence. In the Pain Guidelines, the doctors and the DEA had agreed that the government should stop investigating doctors like Hurwitz simply for being active in pain management--and stop prosecuting those few who followed the recommendations but unwittingly prescribed opiates Opiates Analgesic, pain killing drugs, such as heroin and morphine that depress the central nervous system. Mentioned in: Withdrawal Syndromes to deceitful patients.The DEA arbitrarily reversed that agreement. Dr. David Joranson, head of the University ofWisconsin Group, says the "DEA's abrupt withdrawal of support for the [Guidelines] without consulting with coauthors about their concerns, raises questions about what advisory role, if any, the pain management community can expect to have with DEA." The agency's changes, he says, "are likely to interfere in medical practice and pain management." His colleague, Dr. Russell Portenoy of Beth Israel Medical Center Beth Israel Medical Center is a hospital in New York City. It has four major locations providing health services. It acts as University Hospital and Manhattan Campus for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. , told theWashington Post that the DEA has changed "the tone of the dialogue in a way that is very worrisome. We're seeing more of an emphasis on law enforcement and less on the legitimate use of prescription narcotics narcotics n. 1) techinically, drugs which dull the senses. 2) a popular generic term for drugs which cannot be legally possessed, sold, or transported except for medicinal uses for which a physician or dentist's prescription is required. ." Over 30 million Americans suffer from chronic pain. Are we going to let them live in agony because of the misguided zealotry zeal·ot·ry n. Excessive zeal; fanaticism. zealotism, zealotry a tendency to undue or excessive zeal; fanaticism. See also: Behavior Noun 1. of federal prosecutors? Common Sense for Drug Policy www.CommonSenseDrugPolicy.org www.DrugWarFacts.org Mike Gray, Chair; Robert Field, Co-Chair |
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