‘Don’t Punish Pain Rally’ to be held in Fort Myers
Saying people with chronic conditions should not have to pay for the opioid crisis through personal pain and suffering, rallies calling for a separation of the issues are being held nationwide.
In Fort Myers, the “Don’t Punish Pain Rally” will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 29, at Fort Myers City Hall.
By having the rally at City Hall, organizers were hoping, pre-government shutdown, to attract some legislative attention.
Kathy White helped bring the rally to Lee County because she has loved ones dealing with chronic pain on a daily basis.
According to White, in 2016, in an effort to stem the “supposed” opioid crisis, the Centers for Disease Control came out with guidelines that affected patients but did nothing to stop illegal drugs flowing into the country.
“The physicians that are treating patients with chronic pain were told they should follow these new guidelines, which reduces the amount of pain medication they (patients) could take,” she said. “We still have illegal drugs coming into this country, as a matter of fact pouring into this country, and people are still dying of overdoses of these illegal drugs.”
Patients with chronic pain are being discriminated against because they can no longer get medication, or enough medication, so they can function in society, White said.
“They can’t work, or barely get out of bed,” she said.
White became involved in the rallies that are taking place across the country last year in an effort to bring the problem to people’s attention and so influence officials to fix the law.
“Last year in September we had rallies in 80 cities. My sister and I went to the one in Tampa last year, so we decided we would start one down here in Fort Myers because we know there are a lot of people who are in this situation,” White said.
“Part of the problem with a rally is that if you can barely get out of bed there is no way you can make it to the rally to bring attention to the problem,” White said.
Thankfully, White does not suffer from chronic pain, but she has taken up the cause because two sisters battle chronic pain on a daily basis.
“We all moved to Florida here together two and a half years ago from Wisconsin because we like to swim and snorkel. It’s been reduced to they cannot even take a walk on the beach. When we first came down here, they could. Their pain has gotten worse. They cannot enjoy their lives anymore. Your life is reduced to most of the day laying on the couch, or bed, watching TV, or reading. Pain is constantly in the forefront of their minds.”
Both of her sisters have both undergone multiple treatments to help with the chronic pain but, unfortunately, there is no permanent way to fix their problems, she said.
White said her younger sister had a spinal fusion which, for most people, works and reduces pain.
It did not work for her sister, and, as a result, she suffers with more pain.
“You are in constant pain and then they tell you I’m sorry because other people are abusing this medication, we are going to decide it is really not effective and your doctor has to reduce your dosage. You can no longer feel you can get up and go to the store and get your groceries,” White said. “I’m really not being overly dramatic. People whose doctors have tapered them off medication, or so far down their pain is so severe, are now committing suicide, now being blamed for the epidemic.”
The rally is being held in an attempt to gain some national attention.
“We are trying desperately to somehow get it out to the public that these are two separate issues,” White said of chronic pain patients, and those who abuse drugs. “One of them wasn’t really an issue because patients who are getting their medication legally and using appropriately are being punished because people who are doing things illegally.”
In addition, in the state of Florida the problem has manifested due to the Legislature passing a new law stating that surgeons can no longer prescribe more than three days of pain medication for any surgery, White said.
On a case-by-case basis, she said they can extend the supply to seven days.
“They are making it difficult to have doctors prescribe pain medication to their patients in a responsible way,” White said.
She agrees that a decade ago there was a problem because doctors were handing out too much pain medication and people became addicted and then slowly started turning to illegal drugs.
“There was a problem, but that does not exist anymore. You cannot get more than one month’s worth of pain medication,” she said. “You have to go to your doctor once a month. You get exactly one month’s worth of medication. No more. Then the next month you get 30 more pills.”
White said the government needs to stay out of medication prescription and let the doctors decide what each individual patient needs and dispense the medication.
In addition to the rally, individuals are encouraged to write letters to their legislature telling them their story.
“We know nothing is going to change in a heartbeat. It is going to take a long fight to get changes done. The entire federal government is focused on one thing and it’s not a great time to get their attention. Hopefully we will get enough media coverage, so we can get things changed,” White said. “The only way to get things done in the United States is to make enough noise so people will pay attention.”
Fort Myers City Hall is at 2200 Second St.