- The National Consumers League[/link] (NCL) held a Second Symposium on Risk and the Media: Communicating Consumer Health and Safety Risk, at the National Press Club on January 24, 2002. The symposium was used as a vehicle to evaluate how consumers perceive risks to their own health and safety. The panel focused on the
OxyContin issue which was moderated by former Chief Medical Correspondent for ABC News George Strait. Panelists examined news reports and features about the OxyContin problem from several perspectives. Panelists included Charles Cichon, President of the National Association of Drug
Diversion Investigators; Dr. Howard Heit, Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine with Georgetown University and a well-known expert pain and addition; and pain sufferer Mary Vargas, a patient advocate. The NCL held a valuable discussion on how media play a critical role in the public perception of major public health issues.
One of the most interesting hearings was held by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) of Public Policy Research on February 7, 2002, entitled “The OxyContin “Crisis”—Who’s To Blame?” Panelists included John E. Calfee, AEI; James K. Glassman, Washington Post syndicated columnist; Dr. J. David Haddox, Purdue Pharma L.P.; Erika King, attorney, Covington & Burling; Dr. Sally Satel, former Yale professor of Psychiatry, and AEI; Greg Stone, Reporter for the Charleston Gazette; and moderator James K. Glassman, AEI. Some of the best statements and observations to date on this issue where presented at this hearing, including some compelling statements from audience members, including Laura R. Griffith, Federal Director of the Law Enforcement Alliance of America.
It was the AEI event that added some clarity on the OxyContin national debate. Where many would want us to believe that OxyContin represents a case of over-treating pain in this country, it was a statement from LEAA Federal Director Laura Griffith that put things into focus. Ms. Griffith stated to the panel, “What we really need to do is to focus the debate on law enforcement in terms of detention, investigation, apprehension, and punishment for crimes associated with obtaining drugs illegally. The bottom line is that obtaining OxyContin or any other controlled drug illegally, is a crime.” MAGNUM could not agree with her more. The OxyContin issue is a crime policy issue, not a public health care issue. Ms. Griffith went on to say that “To use drugs that are not prescribed for you, crushing them, selling them, is a criminal enterprise.” Wise words from the only non-medical NGO in the room!
After the AEI hearing, MAGNUM followed up with several subsequent interviews with people who had made some of the most poignant statements. According to MAGNUM’s Executive Vice President Ms. Terri Miller Burchfield, “Two things became clear; this is a law enforcement problem; and new public policies or laws that will handicap physicians could lead to even more Americans suffering from poor pain management.”
In one subsequent interview, the Oncology Nursing Society’s Executive Director, Ms. Bridgett Culhane, informed us that her
organization submitted reports to both Congressional Committees. She told us that “cancer pain is still under-treated in this country.” In a cogently written letter from her NGO to Chairman Wolf and Ranking Member Jose Serrano, she stated that “ONS believes that the inadequate treatment of pain is a significant public health problem in the United States and requires the necessary public health
response.” The letter goes on to say “…if continuous release oxycodone
(OxyContin) were regulated strictly, this could pose a major problem not only for people with cancer, but for a multitude of patients with nonmalignant pain who are enjoying an improved quality-of-life because of OxyContin.” She stated that pain should be viewed as the 5th vital sign! That refers to the vital signs checked by doctors and nurses, which include temperature, pulse, respiration, blood pressure, and now pain assessment.
