[jocon307]

"I hope the situation with Rush opens a good and honest discussion in this country on how to help people in pain."

Me too, but I have my doubts. I remember reading in the Reader's Digest (a pretty conservative mag)years ago about how our society discourages adequate amelioration of pain. It is not acceptable to tell people "you should be in pain, because drugs are bad", this is puritanism at its worst.

Remember, when the going gets tough, the tough do drugs.

[texasbluebell]

It is not acceptable to tell people "you should be in pain, because drugs are bad", this is puritanism at its worst.

I remember when my dad was dying of cancer back in the 70s, he was at the Mayo Clinic. He had at that point about one month to live. He was in desperate pain, but the nurses wouldn't give him his meds just yet, not till it was the right time to do so, because of course the thinking was that he would become addicted to the drugs even though everyone knew he had very little time left.

I spent some time chewing them out, not that it did much good. Simply ridiculous to worry about people becoming addicted when they're so close to death as he was.

Pain management has got to change.