March 2000 • Volume 6 • Number 3
Ask senators to defeat pain relief bill
Relieving patients' pain is one thing, but having the government watchdog the process is another.
The proposed Pain Relief Promotion Act discusses pain management but primarily aims to prevent federally controlled substances from being used for physician-assisted suicide.
The Academy, which opposes physician-assisted suicide, fears the bill could make FPs liable for criminal penalties for prescribing needed pain medicine.
Under the bill, the government would collect and disseminate protocols and evidence-based guidelines about palliative care. Using those materials, federal law enforcement officials could decide -- after a patient's death -- whether the physician provided appropriate care or assisted in a suicide.
The House of Representatives passed the Pain Relief Promotion Act Oct. 27 by a vote of 271-156. The bill, H.R. 2260, is on the Senate Judiciary Committee's priority list for action this month.
Tell your senators why a bill that sounds good for patients may not be good at all; it may stop physicians from prescribing pain control medicine. For more information, access www.aafp.org/gov/keycontacts/20000211/.
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department.
Copyright © 2000 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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