CALIFORNIA...has passed a groundbreaking law requiring doctors to take courses in pain management and end-of-life care.

From: Helen Dynda (olddad66@runestone.net)
Thu May 1 15:55:26 2003


What's new in pain management for non-professionals: Pain management classes for doctors

http://www.partnersagainstpain.com/html/news/nonpro_news.htm?pg=7446&section=nonpro_news California has passed a groundbreaking law requiring doctors to take courses in pain management and end-of-life care. The first of its kind in the nation, the new law also requires the state medical board to track complaints of doctors mishandling pain care to ensure that a pain specialist reviews those complaints.

The law was prompted by a well-publicized lawsuit last year where the family of a man dying of lung cancer sued his physician, charging the man had spent his last days in agonizing — and avoidable — pain. A jury awarded the man's family $1.5 million, later reduced to $250,000, finding the doctor did not use enough pain medication to treat the patient.

The suit drew further attention to the widespread problem of undertreated pain, particularly in the elderly. Said Dion Aroner, the Assemblywoman who drafted the law, "Some doctors treat pain conservatively out of fear that the patient may become addicted to painkillers. When it comes to individuals in pain during the end of life, worries about over-treatment and addictions are simply absurd."

"This is a very extraordinary step being taken by the state to address what is clearly an enormous problem," said Dr. Russell Portenoy, past president of the American Pain Society and head of the Palliative Care Department at Beth Israel hospital in New York.

"If one could show that (California) doctors who get recertified do take away some knowledge and skills that they apply at the bedside, it would be a major incentive for other states to do the same." (Hendricks T. San Francisco Chronicle. Oct. 30, 2001; A-15.)


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