Hello all

I received this alert in one of my pain newsletters and decided that it would be good to also share it with a much wider audience of sufferers, who live every day in Pain/Fatigue & much of the misery & devatation that Fibro & other chronic pain, chronic illnesses have brought into all our lives.

The recent news article in the New York Times has caused a great deal of frustration in pain communities all over the US. 

The article servered no other purpose, other than to isolate a very large group of people suffering in pain and then try to push their private opinions on the general public and to futher isolate us from receiving the appropriate pain care needed for us all to live with this chronic illness.

I'm in the process of writing my own letter to the editor and would like all of you who would like to tell your story, to join me too and send your letter to the editor by following the link at the botten of the article.

Thank you

Betty

Member Alert - The Danger of Misinformation in Medical Reporting

Those of us who are concerned about people who live with pain have always known that educating the public, as well as the medical profession, is critical. Ignorance about persistent pain as a disease is a major roadblock for its victims. A misinformed public is less likely to provide the financial and professional resources needed to combat the serious public health issue of pain.

A disturbing trend in the press in covering medical topics is the tendency to focus on controversy and/or the negative. One of the most glaring examples of biased reporting appeared in the New York Times on January 14, 2008, in the article, "Drug Approved. Is Disease Real?" by Alex Berenson.

While there was some appropriate commentary, the reporter included the views of well known skeptics who do not represent pain medicine in the U.S. One such skeptic is quoted as saying, "People with fibromyalgia do not adapt" - a statement that is not only pejorative, but does injustice to the many patients with fibromyalgia who do their best to cope and to the doctors that treat them.

I urge you, as a person in pain or someone who cares about a person living with persistent pain, to read the story and write a letter to the editor of the paper to help dispel the misconceptions about fibromyalgia included in the story. I also encourage you to visit the National Pain Foundation's web site to read my editorial, "The Dangers of Misinformation in Medical Reporting," and Dr. Bert Ray's editorial, "Why Pain Medication Use is Really on the Rise," which explores some of the misinformation about opioids. Please consider writing a letter to your local paper to help dispel this misinformation in your communities.

Richard L. Stieg, M.D.
Past President, American Academy of Pain Medicine
Editor in Chief, http://arrowemail.redarrowgroup.com/arrow/ar_LinkTracker.asp?uID=3&nID=502&strEmail=bettyguindon@aol.com&strLink=http://www.nationalpainfoundation.org.