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dove O.C.P.M.

NEWSLETTER Number #8
January 2001
compiled by cyn of O.C.P.M.

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Hello & Welcome to our eighth newsletter

This month we are focusing on .....


5th


More than 50 million Americans
suffer from chronic pain, according to
the American Pain Foundation.
And as chronic pain patients know,
managing pain has not been
a high enough priority for many
doctors and medical institutions.

But as of last week (1/2/2001),
health-care centers around the country
are hereby required to begin screening
every patient for their pain levels.
The are to have the pain measured
and recorded in each patient.

Patients may be asked to rate their
pain levels, using the 1 to 10 scale,
with 0 being no pain and 10 being
the most extreme. It is then that these
institutions will have to decide
what therapies will be required to
relieve the pain, and document
the results.

Patients will have the right to
reasonable and effective assessment,
thereby given whatever it
takes to manage that pain.

All health facilities must adhere
to these set standards or pay
the consequences.

Until now, there have been no national
standards for Proper Treatment of Pain.
Studies of cancer patients suggest
that only 60% of cancer patients ever
receive adequate pain medication.
And even with that, they were often
given nothing more than aspirin or Tylenol.
Among the post-surgery patients, studies
have suggested about only 50 percent
receive adequate pain relief.

Proper treatment of pain, as we know,
is important for two main reasons.
One is because it allows patients
to feel better and the other reason is
it speeds up their recovery.
Patients with less pain after surgery
are able to breathe more deeply
and walk more easily, therefore they are
able leave the hospital more quickly.

These new standards, which were issued
by the Joint Commission on Accreditation
of Healthcare Organizations
, require that
hospitals and nursing homes ensure
that their staff knows how to treat
pain effectively. It also asks that patients
and their families know how to manage
that pain.

Presently health care centers are scrambling
to implement these standards because those
that do not, risk losing their
accreditation as well as their
federal funds from Medicare and
Medicaid

Altho there can't be a promise that a
patient won't experience pain in
these institutions, it can be
assured that a patient's pain,
from now on, will be taken seriously.

With these new guidelines,
there will be various options
available to patients. That might
mean using more powerful
medications, like morphine and
codeine. If it shows that a patient
has no history of substance abuse,
then it shows that there's virtually
no risk of addiction.

Also available will be the
non-traditional therapies such as
acupuncture, physical therapy,
meditation and massage.
For different specific pain problems,
there will be various techniques
that can and will be used.
More importantly is to match the
choice of therapy to the intensity
and type of pain a patient is having.

Many patients consider pain a
natural and unavoidable consequence
of surgery or illness.

Hospital's are now required
to follow these new set
standards and make the
patient as comfortable
as possible.

It's up to us as patients
to make sure that they
abide by them.



PAIN
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THE FIFTH VITAL SIGN

The VHA'S National Pain Management Strategy




our2

For the month of
December,
here's the Stats....

Our Chronic Pain Mission
(sm4mission)

-- Site Summary ---
Visits
Total ........................ 7,838
Average per Day ................. 39
Average Visit Length .......... 3:15
This Week ...................... 243


Page Views

Total ....................... 19,713
Average per Day ................. 99
Average per Visit .............. 2.5
This Week ...................... 946






O.C.P.M. HAS A NEW ADDITION TO IT'S PAGES
CALLED
CHRONIC PAIN POLITICS
Here it is...



Pain Politics
Welcome | MainPage | Forum | Chatroom | Newsletter | Pain Politics New Page - Come on In|O.C.P.M. Poll Page |Gamesroom | About Us | Links�

dove O.C.P.M.

Welcome to the World of
Chronic Pain Politics

A Migraine Petition calling for all
Government Agencies, Medical Institutions,
Insurance Companies and Employers

to acknowledge that 'MIGRAINE' is a disabiling disease
and therefore should be treated accordingly
You can help by signing
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Click Here
A Chronic Pain Petition calling to
allow Physician's to administer
or authorize administration of controlled substances
as warranted in a physician's
professional judement.
You can help by signing
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Click Here

A Petition in the matter of:
Dr. Robert I. Solomon
of Williamsburg, West Virginia
whereby petitioners call for the
harassment of this physician,
who treats his patients
for severe pain, to be stopped.
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Petitioners
are asking that the
Virginia Medical Board
reverse its direction,
and instead begin to support the
pain treatment guidelines of the
Joint Commission on Accredition of
Health Care Organizations,

the Federation of United States Medical Boards,
and the Pain & Policy Studies Group.




'Choice of Dying'

Brings a
PETITION FOR
'END-OF-LIFE-CARE'



A petition that calls for options for
people at the end of their life.
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These include
'Humane Quality Care', Hospice, Home Care, Relief From Pain With Pain Management



IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING THAT YOU THINK
BELONGS ON THIS NEW POLITICS PAGE
BY ALL MEANS LET O.C.P.M. KNOW


bar10

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AND WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU

AS A RECIEPENT OF THIS NEWSLETTER
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU HAVE
FOR FUTURE O.C.P.M. NEWSLETTERS?

YOU CAN CONTACT US AT:



[email protected]

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HERE'S TO ALOT MORE
PAIN-LESS DAYS
FOR ALL OF US!