In the residents’ lounge at the University of Kentucky, there is a scrap
of paper posted on the wall with a haiku scribbled on it: “Drug-seeking
patients / You will get NONE of your candy / When I am on call.” It’s
unknown how long the sign has been up, but concerns about pain and pain
relief have a long standing in medicine. Evidence of fossilized opium
has been found in the remains of our earliest hominid ancestors, and
narcotics are mentioned liberally throughout the Homeric epics. In our
own day and age, more than 100 million Americans experience the
debilitations of chronic pain. So, when confronted with such a massive
problem, why all the cynicism?
Read full article: Ethical Perspectives on Pain
Bharat Kumar, MD
PGY-2, Internal Medicine
University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Virtual Mentor. May 2013, Volume 15, Number 5: 401-402.
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