peter h. proctor

..
The local drug warriers went after the head of the pain clinic
at MD Anderson, arguably the worlds foremost cancer hospital. And
my alma mater for my PhD. If they have the hubris to do this,
nobody is safe.

The subsequent outrage caused the Texas legislature to pass a
law specifically allowing physicians to use whatever is
medically-indicated to control cancer pain. My mom benefited from
this in her final days.... Sometimes all we docs have to offer is
palliation.

The head of the Anderson pain clinic subsequently offered to
send a couple of his assistants to educate the local DEA on new
developments in pain control. In return, the local agent in charge
offered to send _his_ agents to tell the MD Anderson docs how it
should be done.

This sitiuation remionds me of the relationship between the
KGB and the scientific community in Stalinist Russia. Solzhitsin
talks about the kick a secret policeman right off the farm got from
being able to bully the pointy-headed academic types.... Power is a
drug too.

Dr P

guidosjunkmail@yahoo.com (guido

<snip>

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA... Well - I feel sorry for Dr. Hassman. She appears
to be a compassionate physician who is woefully naive. I suspect that
this naivete will be her undoing. The guys at the DEA are not
interested in working with physicians. They are interested in
arresting and prosecuting as many people as possible. Dr. Hassman
needs to realize that NOBODY at the DEA has ever been promoted for
"working with doctors who treat those with chronic pain". However,
lots and lots of people have been promoted for making high-profile
arrests, and sending people to jail. The actual guilt or innoncence
of those people is irrelevant.

She appears to be operating under the delusion that people working for
the DEA have a sliver of compassion and a shred of decency in them.
No doubt she will shortly be disabused of these quaint notions.

Guido

eric johnson

David Crosby is about as bad as you can get, except for Hugh Heffner. What
is the problem. Crosby looks a lot like Wilford Brimley to me.


EJ

george conklin

You reminded us of this earlier, and it was and is a disgrace. Police are
after power, but then so are physicians. In the end, if the AMA were really
interested in patients and not mostly in promoting higher costs, then the
cops could be put in their place.

orac

As usual, George, in your unreasoning hatred of the medical profession
and looking for any reason to blame it for bad things, you vastly
overestimate the power of the AMA, to which less than 30% of U.S.
physicians belong. The cops have far more power than physicians, and,
indeed, going after a high profile physician is a great way for a
prosecutor to make a splash and advance his career.
--
Orac |"A statement of fact cannot be insolent."
|
|"If you cannot listen to the answers, why do you
| inconvenience me with questions?"

peter h. proctor

The difference is that the cops get their power from the
delegated authority use deadly force. We docs must use more subtile
means<G>.

The AMA is basically toothless. In fact, a surprising
number of docs are out there fighting for the right of their patients
to recieve appropriate pain meds. Similarly, a lot of docs put
their own butts at risk from the DA's and federal attorenys out to
get promoted by purposfully- pandering to people's irrational
prejudices. Braver than I am, anyway. Dr P

howard mccollister

I always find it interesting that unknowledgeable people looking to target
physicians always love to focus in on the AMA as if it were the fountainhead
of the medical profession. I suppose people like George need a target for
their rage, but the AMA is so non-representative of the medical profession
that their whole range of arguments are pretty silly, really...

HMc

the_right_wing@truth.com

I won't touch that opening no matter how wide it is. <G> Trimmed

orac

As usual, George, in your unreasoning hatred of the medical profession
and looking for any reason to blame it for bad things, you vastly
overestimate the power of the AMA, to which less than 30% of U.S.
physicians belong. The cops have far more power than physicians, and,
indeed, going after a high profile physician is a great way for a
prosecutor to make a splash and advance his career.
--
Orac |"A statement of fact cannot be insolent."
|
|"If you cannot listen to the answers, why do you
| inconvenience me with questions?"

peter h. proctor

The difference is that the cops get their power from the
delegated authority use deadly force. We docs must use more subtile
means<G>.

The AMA is basically toothless. In fact, a surprising
number of docs are out there fighting for the right of their patients
to recieve appropriate pain meds. Similarly, a lot of docs put
their own butts at risk from the DA's and federal attorenys out to
get promoted by purposfully- pandering to people's irrational
prejudices. Braver than I am, anyway. Dr P