An Open Letter...

​An open letter to my Fellow Citizens,

We need to talk. Your freedoms are at risk, your health is at risk, the health of your mother and your child are at risk. I know your life is already busy, I know you already have causes that are important to you. But this one should be on your radar as well, because no one is talking about it. If you believe the we are living in a democracy, that is no longer the case. Your fellow citizens, the most vulnerable among you, are systematically being silenced and slowly killed off by your government.

The government is actively punishing physicians who treat their patients for pain. They are forcing medical neglect, malpractice and patient abandonment. In fact they are rewarding doctors (with money of course) for tapering chronically ill patients off of their pain medications (usually against the patients will). Government officials are going even further, and infiltrating your support groups and advocacy groups to further spy on us and know exactly what we are planning in terms of “speaking up” about healthcare issues. 

The local, state, and federal government is quickly and VERY quietly passing legislation that is going to risk the lives of the over 100 million chronic pain patients in our country, and anyone who needs proper healthcare.

“I’m not a chronic illness patient,” you say; Well unfortunately life is tricky and that could change in the blink of an eye, to you or someone you love. A car accident, a medical emergency- can quickly turn into you experiencing chronic, debilitating symptoms for the rest of your life.

Imagine denying a diabetic insulin, simply because it has the possibility to be abused, when 99% of diabetics take their insulin responsibly. It doesn’t make sense does it? But it’s happening to legitimate chronic pain patients- who didn’t ask for their diseases any more than a diabetic would ask for theirs. So why are we being punished? Why are cancer patients and people with disabilities being denied proper treatment? 

Prescribing of opioid medication is down 65% since 2016, and yet the opioid epidemic is at an all time high, so how can that be??? It’s because the opioids that people are abusing and overdosing on aren’t coming from a doctors office, they’re coming over our borders. Certain illegal groups that I won't name for my own safety, have ‘pill presses’ and they will press designer street drugs to “look” like prescription medication (such as benzos or pain pills); but they are far deadlier than the real thing. They are being laced with ‘carfentanyl’, which is a designer street drug and has never been used in a medical setting. A few grains of this designer drug is lethal. Synthetic Opioids are the ones driving this issue- not something coming from a prescription pad. The CDC has also admitting to severely over inflating the numbers of ‘opioid overdoses’, to further their agenda to get doctors to stop prescribing- the number of overdoses in 2016 REALLY being 14,000, not the 65,000+ they originally stated. They are lying to you to further their own agendas.
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The increased pressure that doctors are facing are leading to devastating consequences for patients- and not just those with chronic illnesses. Patients across the country are being forced into surgeries not just without pain management, but without ANESTHETICS. That means the next time you go to the hospital for a medical emergency, you may not receive proper care or experience a case of malpractice, because the media has misinformed the public about what is really going on in our country.

Suicides are rampant for people who experience chronic pain. People are being told to simply “accept” their pain and that's the only way to treat pain. People with serious, debilitating medical issues are being told to accept and  pray for their pain to go away. This is leading to an alarmingly high rate of suicide in the chronic illness community. Over 50 people a day are taking their lives or dying because of untreated pain, which can cause MI, Strokes, Seizures and many more scary issues. Pharmacists and large chain pharmacies are further abusing patients by not filling valid prescriptions by doctors.

What can you do to help this? You can call, write, and email your legislators. Tell them to protect patients rights to pain management and palliative care, especially for the chronically ill and disabled. Secondly you can educate yourself on what’s really going on in this country and how patients are being tortured and denied treatment right under your noses. I will leave links in the comments for you to watch/read. Lastly, you can include people with disabilities and chronic illnesses in your social justice movements. WE are often to sick to attend marches and rallies and meetings ourselves, so it’s important for you as able bodied individuals to REMEMBER us and stick up for all of our rights to proper healthcare and pain management.
Please share and speak up about patients not receiving proper treatment. A genocide is happening right under your noses and   no one is paying attention. Please don’t let them kill us off quietly.  #PainKills

Please help us, we matter.

Sincerely Suffering,  
Chronic Pain Patients 

Sources: One, two, and three. 
A great @vicemag piece on this issue: here ! 
Some great narratives on the issue: here and here
Check out the tools on this website to help talk to your legislator and the media about this issue.