[chronicpain] Pain does not have a Moral Value

From: Tina Shelby (tshelby@usit.net)
Tue Feb 15 15:10:27 2000


>Delivered-To: chronicpain@apollo.dns-solutions.net
>Date: 14 Feb 2000 04:40:10 -0000
>From: jim@goedhart.com
>To: chronicpain@list.goedhart.com
>Subject: [chronicpain] Pain does not have a Moral Value
>Sender: owner-chronicpain@list.goedhart.com
>Reply-To: chronicpain@list.goedhart.com
>
>Here's one of my favorite messages by some doctor. Don't really know him,
>or who he is but he has the right idea. The next time your doctor says you
>can't have the medication you need for pain, hand him this. This really
>says it all.
>
>-----------------------
>
>-----------------------
> "Pain does not have a moral value. Drugs cannot have a moral value:
>-----------------------
>they're pills. The thing that has a moral value is life. Life is good.
>Life is a gift. Life should be cherished. Life should be promoted. life
>should be supported. That's what we're supposed to do. We should not be
>moralizing about whether pills are good or bad. If you are sick and can
>use a pill to live your life, if taking pills let you live your life,
>take care of your children and be a part of your community, then that
>pill sustains your life and is good. If someone is a drug addict and
>they can't deal with their lives, they take a pill to escape their
>lives, because they can't face the problems they have to deal with, and
>now because of that same pill they are not living, they are abusing the
>drug: that pill is bad. The pill is not good or bad, it's how it relates
>to life."
> Dan Brookoff, MD, Internal Medicine and
>Medical
> Oncology, Memphis TN
>

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