[Fwd: FW: Web Site Launched to Help Stop Bad Federal Pain Bill]

[Guest guest]

>FYI

> Web Site Launched to Help Stop Bad Federal Pain Bill

>

>Web Site Launched to Help Health Professionals and Pain Patients Stop A

>Misguided Bill that Harms Good Pain Management: Pass It On

>

>The wildly misnamed and misguided " Pain Relief Promotion Act " is about to

>come to a vote in the U.S. Senate. It will have a chilling effect on

>physicians, nurses, hospice workers, pharmacists, and other healthcare

>practitioners who provide effective pain management to patients suffering

>from severe pain. If you haven't yet contacted your Senators, or would

>just like to learn more, log onto

><http://www.stopprpa.org>www.stopprpa.org. If your organization has a

>website, please add a hyperlink to

><http://www.stopprpa.org>www.stopprpa.org so visitors can learn more

>instantly. And pass this alert on!

>

>Quick Summary

>This misleadingly-titled bill would give federal Drug Enforcement

>Administration (DEA) agents the unprecedented power to investigate and

>second-guess the medical judgment of a physician, nurse, or pharmacist who

>administers any controlled substance - like morphine - to relieve the pain

>of a seriously ill patient. If the DEA thinks the doctor, nurse or

>pharmacist’s " intent " was not to control pain but to hasten death, they

>will be intensively investigated with the threat of a minimum 20 year

>sentence hanging in the balance.

>

>The threat – and legal cost, time, and notoriety – of having federal law

>enforcement officers probe and possibly misconstrue their intent will

>understandably deter many doctors, nurses, and pharmacists from using

>these medications aggressively. Thousands of patients in pain will suffer

>as a result. While the bill's unstated aim is to stop physician-assisted

>suicide in Oregon (the only state where it is legal), this act will likely

>increase suicides, assisted and otherwise, by those who can no longer

>tolerate unrelieved pain.

>

>Join Those Who are Already Fighting this Mislabeled Bill

>The American Cancer Society, American Academy of Family Physicians,

>American Nurses Association, American Pain Foundation, American

>Pharmaceutical (Pharmacists) Association, American Society of Pain

>Management Nurses, Oncology Nursing Society, Society of Health System

>Pharmacists, American Geriatrics Society, and nearly 40 other nursing,

>physician, hospice, and patient organizations oppose this mislabeled

>bill. Even though all of these groups either OPPOSE or take no position

>on physician-assisted suicide!

>

>You Can Help

>The bill has already passed the U.S. House and will be voted on in the

>U.S. Senate shortly. You can make a difference… Learn more and send an

>email or printed letter to your Senators automatically by logging onto

><http://www.stopprpa.org>www.stopprpa.org today.

>

>Post this Alert and Pass it On

>Please pass this alert on to your colleagues, organizational members, and

>others who care about promoting GOOD pain management and stopping a

>pretend bill that will only turn back the clock. Post it on appropriate

>listserves. And please don't forget to add a hyperlink on your web site

>to <http://www.stopprpa.org>www.stopprpa.org.

>

>Thank you.

>

> Giglio

>StopPRPA Campaign Coordinator

>c/o The American Pain Foundation

>111 South Calvert St. - #2700

>Baltimore, MD 21202

>johndgiglio@...

>