At first I thought that this sounded only slightly more interesting than any other area of law, which is to say, not very interesting. However, the people behind this site are concerned with some very important issues in the management of pain.
We now know that opioid therapy can be effective at reducing pain and improving quality of life. Further, we know that the use of opioids is not associated with the degree of addiction and abuse previously thought to be the case. Despite this, opioid therapy is not being offered to so many pain patients who stand to greatly benefit from its use. It is believed that current laws and regulations, intended to curb misuse and abuse, have the unintended consequence of discouraging their application. Physicians claim that there is a threat of legal sanctions and penalties associated with the use of opioids, and this compels them to steer clear of opioid therapy.
The site is a collaboration between the Center for Health Law Studies at Saint Louis University, and the American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics, funded by a grant from the Mayday Fund. I encourage you to take a look at this site.
The website can be found at http://www.painandthelaw.org/index.php.http://www.painandthelaw.org/index.php
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