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US pressure group that pushed doctors to prescribe painkillers forced to close [View all]
Source: The Guardian
US pressure group that pushed doctors to prescribe painkillers forced to close
● American Pain Society accused of being pawn of big pharma
● Group took nearly $1m from leading opioid manufacturers
Chris McGreal
Sat 25 May 2019 07.00 BST Last modified on Sat 25 May 2019 07.01 BST
A leading medical society, described by a US Senate report as a pawn of the pharmaceutical industry for its prominent role in pressuring doctors to prescribe opioids, is to shut down in the face of lawsuits blaming it for America’s worst drug epidemic.
The American Pain Society led the campaign to promote the concept of “pain as the fifth vital sign” which resulted in hospitals across the US introducing smiley-face pain scales into consulting rooms in the 2000s and requiring doctors to prioritize pain treatment.
Doctors said the policy resulted in patients in effect writing their own prescriptions because medics faced disciplinary action, including ethics hearings, if they did not satisfy demands for pain relief even in cases where it endangered patients.
The APS is one of a group of supposedly independent medical advocacy organizations that critics allege were captured by the drug industry and used to drive sales of narcotic painkillers that grew into a multibillion-dollar-a-year industry.
-snip-
● American Pain Society accused of being pawn of big pharma
● Group took nearly $1m from leading opioid manufacturers
Chris McGreal
Sat 25 May 2019 07.00 BST Last modified on Sat 25 May 2019 07.01 BST
A leading medical society, described by a US Senate report as a pawn of the pharmaceutical industry for its prominent role in pressuring doctors to prescribe opioids, is to shut down in the face of lawsuits blaming it for America’s worst drug epidemic.
The American Pain Society led the campaign to promote the concept of “pain as the fifth vital sign” which resulted in hospitals across the US introducing smiley-face pain scales into consulting rooms in the 2000s and requiring doctors to prioritize pain treatment.
Doctors said the policy resulted in patients in effect writing their own prescriptions because medics faced disciplinary action, including ethics hearings, if they did not satisfy demands for pain relief even in cases where it endangered patients.
The APS is one of a group of supposedly independent medical advocacy organizations that critics allege were captured by the drug industry and used to drive sales of narcotic painkillers that grew into a multibillion-dollar-a-year industry.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/25/american-pain-society-doctors-painkillers
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