Concerning opioid medication regulation (L.D. 1646 and L.D. 1648):

My dearest friend has dealt with disabling chronic pain for over 30 years. Opioids have been one facet of a complex approach to dealing with her pain. A 30-pill prescription usually will last her several months, because she uses it only for the worst periods of pain. It has helped her get some relief, and she has never become addicted.

The limits being proposed in the Legislature may not directly curtail her prescription, but they will affect others whose pain is managed by opioids, and they could affect her care in other detrimental ways.

While I appreciate concerns about addiction and links to heroin abuse, I am also concerned about the well-being, dignity and suffering of people whose lives have been devastated by pain.

Chronic pain has been poorly understood and managed by our health care system. It is difficult to find medical professionals who respect and respond to patients with chronic pain conditions.

There have been times when my friend has been told it was all in her head, and her suffering discounted. She has felt treated like a criminal and been assumed to be untrustworthy and asked to submit to monitoring and regulation as if she were a drug abuser.

Through the help of several compassionate doctors over the years, she has found regimens that offer a modicum of relief, but she still has periods of severe pain. She has also felt some benefit from massage, acupuncture and chiropractic therapies, but coverage for those is nonexistent or quite limited under most public or private insurance.

I hope that in any legislation that is passed, there is room for the medical profession to devote time and energy to continue to work on this issue, without curtailments that negatively affect the possibilities for chronic pain relief.

Rev. Myke Johnson

Portland

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