Washington, D.C., May 16, 2008—Today, millions of Americans live in chronic pain, without adequate access to prescription pain medications, because their doctors are too afraid of being harassed or even arrested by the Drug Enforcement Administration to prescribe sufficient doses. To help combat this problem, the Competitive Enterprise Institute is launching its “Politics of Pain” campaign to support reform of DEA rules and procedures.

“DEA is attempting to control drug abuse by regulating the practice of medicine,” said CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman. “But DEA consists of bureaucrats, not physicians, and its views on treating chronic pain often amount to malpractice.”

The Politics of Pain campaign has collected personal stories from physicians and patients who have explained first hand how difficult it can be to either offer or find sufficient treatment for pain conditions. In one video interview, Gulf War veteran James Fernandez and his wife tell their story of how he, once a robustly healthy U.S. Marine, is now virtually confined to his home because of severe, ongoing pain that has been under-treated for years.

“Pain patients aren’t drug abusers looking for a prescription fix,” said CEI Senior Fellow Gregory Conko. “It's a genuine tragedy that the DEA often treats them and their doctors as if they were. It's as though the agency just doesn't care whether its single-minded waging of the war on drugs imposes collateral damage.”

In another video interview, Dr. Alexander DeLuca, a board-certified specialist in addiction medicine, describes the obstacles faced by a physician trying to deliver the “standard of care” called for by his own medical training. According to DeLuca, virtually no patients in the country today receive proper treatment for chronic pain.

The Politics of Pain campaign has been developed in conjunction with the Pain Relief Network.