Report says 116 million suffer lasting pain

At least 116 million U.S. adults experience long-lasting pain—the kind that lingers for weeks to months—and too often feel stigma rather than relief from a health care system poorly prepared to treat them, the Institute of Medicine says. All kinds of ailments can trigger lingering pain, from arthritis to cancer, spine problems to digestive disorders, even as-yet-undiagnosed conditions. Whatever the cause, chronic pain costs the nation more than heart disease in medical bills, sick days and lost productivity, the report found. The tab: anywhere from $560 billion to $635 billion a year. Effective pain management is “a moral imperative,” the report concludes, urging the government, medical groups and insurers to take a series of steps to transform the field. “We’re viewing this as a critical issue for the United States,” says Dr. Phillip Pizzo of Stanford University, who chaired the months-long probe. Regulatory and law enforcement steps to fight the serious problem of abuse of narcotic painkillers can be one barrier. But the institute countered that it’s far more likely for a pain patient to get inadequate care than for a drug-seeker to walk out with an inappropriate prescription. Those narcotic painkillers are a safe and effective option for the right patient, the report says.