A Chronic Pain Patients Bill Of Rights
1. I have the right to have my pain believed by health professionals, family, friends and others around me.
Patients:
The person in pain is the only one who knows how much pain he or she has. Patients, report and describe your pain as accurately as possible. Do not feel reluctant to be honest about your pain. Health Professionals/Medical Providers:
Health professionals, acknowledge that stoicism, reluctance to take drugs, cultural differences, feelings of resignation and other factors often inhibit patients from talking about their pain. You need to work together with your patients to identify and remove these obstacles so that pain can be accurately assessed and treated.
2. I have the right to have my pain controlled, no matter what its cause or how severe it may be.
Patients:
Pain must be understood, as well as believed. In recent years, major advances have been made in understanding pain and its effective treatment.
Health Professionals/Medical Providers:
Members of the health care team must seek all information and resources necessary to make patients as comfortable as possible. Failure to aggresivily treat pain on a timely basis is now thought to be the main cause of chronic pain.
3. I have the right to be treated with respect at all times. When I need medication for pain do not treat me as if I were a drug abuser.
Patients:
Health professionals, the public, law enforcement agents, and even people in pain often believe that using pain-relieving drugs will lead to addiction. Yet this almost never happens. The abuse of drugs is unrelated to the use of drugs for pain treatment. It is normal to want to be comfortable: it is a way of taking care of yourself.
Health Professionals/Medical Providers:
Many of us are fearful about pain medications because we don't know the facts. Learn the facts about narcotics and other pain treatments. It is your responsibility to help patients and families understand that fears about addiction, sedation and other side-effects are understandable, but often exaggerated.
Most side-effects of pain medications are treatable. Treat them! Never use side effects as a reason to discontinue treatment for pain.
4. I have the right to have pain resulting from treatments and procedures prevented, or at least minimized.
Patients:
Many medical procedures and tests are very painful. Tell your health care team about the pain associated with any treatments, procedures or tests you may have to undergo.
Health Professionals/Medical Providers:
Don’t tell patients that pain from treatments is "unavoidable",
or that "it won't last long." That is arrogant and it trivializes your patient’s pain. Pain is suffering, no matter how long it lasts. Worrying about future painful treatment is also suffering. Make sure patients know what to expect when undergoing any procedure, and do every thing in your power to prevent or minimize procedure pain.
