New England Journal of Medicine: IOM Pain Report
The IOM Relieving Pain in America Report is moving forward! The report’s primary recommendation is to change the cultural perception of pain—how we treat, educate, research and prevent chronic pain.
The New England Journal of Medicine’s current issue includes the article “Alleviating Suffering 101 – Pain Relief in the United States” authored by Philip A Pizzo, MD and Noreen Clark, Ph.D. “The magnitude of pain in the United States is astounding. More than 116 million Americans have pain that persists for weeks to years. The total financial costs of this epidemic are $560 billion to $635 billion per year, according to Relieving Pain in America, the recent report of an Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee that we co-chaired. And these figures don’t include pain in children or people in long-term care facilities, the military or prison. The annual U.S. expenditures related to pain (including direct medical costs and lost wages) are higher than those for cancer, heart disease, and diabetes combined...”
Jan Chambers, president of the National Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain Association has worked side by side with top national organizations in Washington, DC advancing the Relieving Pain in America Report since its inception and is the IOM Pain Report Task Force director for the Pain Care Forum. Jan testified for fibromyalgia to the IOM Pain Research Committee during its investigative phase (February 2011) and submitted written testimony for fibromyalgia to the U.S. Senate HELP Committee (February 2012).
Additionally, Medline Plus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and NIH (National Institutes of Health) posted a transcript of the National Library of Medicine Director’s comments from February 21, 2012 podcast about the IOM Relieving Pain in America Report at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/podcast/transcript022112.html
