The War on Pain Sufferers

Sep 23, 2005
by Sheldon Richman
Future Freedom Foundation
A good deal of air is exhaled over the state of medical care in America. Extreme state worshipers want a complete government takeover, while a more subtle band of state worshipers, the kind who like to call themselves advocates of limited government, proposes instead to use “market incentives” to [...]

How 313 Crimes Became Four

Sep 6, 2005
By: Jacob Sullum
Reason.com
Cecil Knox, the Roanoke, Virginia, physician whose case was discussed in Maia Szalavitz’s Reason article about pain doctor prosecutions, has entered a plea agreement that may allow him to avoid prison time. This is a remarkable turn of events for a man portrayed as a menace to society, an alleged pill [...]

Doctor Pleads Guilty to Racketeering

Sep 3, 2005
By: Rex Bowman
The Times Dispatch (VA)
A Roanoke doctor accused of running a “pill mill” from which he illegally prescribed vast numbers of potent painkillers pleaded guilty yesterday to four charges as federal prosecutors agreed to abandon efforts to link him to patients’ deaths.
Dr. Cecil Knox had faced 95 counts.
The guilty pleas came as [...]

Medical Marijuana, Federalism, and the Supreme Court

Sep 2, 2005
By: Lawrence Gostin
JAMA
In Gonzalez v Raich, the US Supreme Court held that federal law enforcement authorities could criminally prosecute patients for possessing marijuana prescribed by a physician in accordance with state law.1 The Court did not overturn state medical marijuana laws but did open the door to criminal prosecution under federal drug statutes. [...]

Preemptive Analgesia Ethics, & an Underlying Principle

Frank Fisher, M.D.;
Practical Pain Management.,
5(6), 33-41; 2005; (Sept.-Oct. issue
This article examines a disturbing pattern of conflict existing between expert testimony offered against pain-treating physicians during regulatory assaults, and scientific evidence and medical principles upon which the rational standard of care for pain management is based.
In the pathogenesis of chronic pain, ongoing pain is the single [...]