Re: YOUR HELP IS NEEDED to PREVENT the passage of the Pain Relief Promotion Act!!!!!

From: Millie (milliem@citlink.net)
Thu Mar 22 21:05:25 2001


Dear Helen C. and Helen D., I just sent my letters off to the senators on this subject. Millie

>----- Original Message -----
From: "Helen Dynda" <olddad66@runestone.net> To: "Multiple recipients of list ADHESIONS" <adhesions@mail.medispecialty.com> Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2001 10:53 PM Subject: YOUR HELP IS NEEDED to PREVENT the passage of the Pain Relief Promotion Act!!!!!

> Helen C. and Helen D. URGE YOU to SEND YOUR LETTER TODAY!! The following
> steps will help you do this. PLEASE let your voice be heard!!
>
> ~ ~ ~ ~
>
> 1.) Health Care Debate in Washington
>
> http://www.patientadvocacy.org/section_fs.htm?section=hc_debate
>
> 2.) Click: other health care issues
>
> 3.) Choose and click:
>
> Prevent Passage of the Pain Relief Promotion Act
>
> BACKGROUND
>
> Under current law, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has the
> authority to enforce federal law preventing the illegal manufacturing or
> dispensing of controlled substances, but does not have the authority to
> review a physician's medical determination of what drug is most
appropriate > to alleviate a particular patient's pain. Under legislation that has
already > passed the House and that may soon come to a vote in the Senate, commonly
> known as the Pain Relief Promotion Act, DEA agents would gain new federal
> authority to monitor and regulate physicians' clinical management of their
> patients' pain care. If the DEA determines that the intent of a
prescribing > physician was not to relieve pain, but to hasten death, the physician
would > be subject to federal prosecution and a jail term of not less than 20
years. > These new powers are likely to have a chilling effect on the willingness
of > physicians - many of whom already express reluctance to use powerful
> narcotics -- to prescribe necessary medicines to suffering patients.
>
> Patients must be able to select appropriate courses of care based on the
> opinion of their physicians without any outside pressure. They need to
know > that their doctors will be allowed to treat them without the constant
threat > of federal prosecution. After all, physicians' treatment determinations
> depend on numerous physical and medical factors that doctors are educated
> for years to observe and address. Law enforcement agents, while very
> effective in law enforcement activities, are unlikely to possess the
> training and knowledge to judge doctor's medical treatment decisions.
>
> Originally, this legislation was introduced to reverse an Oregon law that
> allows terminally ill patients to obtain physician-assisted suicide. Most
> groups opposing the bill, however, DO NOT SUPPORT assisted suicide. If
> Congress believes it must act on the assisted suicide issue, it should
find > a means of addressing it that does not punish patients who seek
appropriate > medical treatment for pain.
>
> Recently, the Pain Relief Promotion Act was added to tax-cut legislation
and > was approved for the second time by the House of Representatives. The
Senate > could take up this legislation AT ANY TIME. It is important to act now by
> contacting Members of Congress and the President to ask
>
> ( a.) that they oppose the Pain Relief Promotion Act as a stand-alone
> measure and
>
> ( b.) that they support removing the provisions from ANY legislation in
> which it appears in the remaining days of the 106th Congress.
>
> URGENT ACTION NEEDED!
>
> Your help is needed today to prevent Congress from passing the Pain Relief
> Promotion Act and thereby protect the rights of patients to receive the
> best, most appropriate care from their physicians without the fear of
> intervention by federal law enforcement officials. Your representative and
> senators need to hear from you. It is vital that they understand that this
> legislation would prevent patients both in their hometowns and around the
> country from receiving the medical care that they require.
>
> This year's congressional session is almost over, so please visit our
> Legislative Advocacy Center ( Click on preceding words.) NOW and e-mail
your > representative and senators TODAY!
>
> 4.) LEGISLATIVE ALERT...Select and click:
>
> Protect Patients' Access to Palliative Care
>
> http://cw2k.capweb.net/patientadvocacy/
>
> 5.) Click: Take Action
>
> 6.) Click: Protect Patients' Access to Palliative Care
>
> http://cw2k.capweb.net/patientadvocacy/letterstate.cfm
>
> 7.) Write Letter:
>
> http://cw2k.capweb.net/patientadvocacy/letterstate.cfm
>
> Dear (contact name will be automatically filled in here):
> I write to express my deep concerns regarding the Pain Relief Promotion
Act > (H.R. 2260 / S. 1272). Under this legislation, DEA agents would gain new
> federal authority to monitor and regulate physicians' clinical management
of > their patients' pain care. These new powers are likely to have a chilling
> effect on the willingness of physicians to prescribe necessary medicines
to > suffering patients. Legal concerns already have caused some doctors to
> become reluctant to prescribe powerful narcotics, even when they are
> medically indicated. Giving the DEA broader powers to investigate
physicians > will clearly exacerbate this problem, and in the end, patients will
suffer. > I urge you to prevent further government intrusion into the relationships
of > patients and their doctors. Patients need to know that their doctors will
be > allowed to treat them without the constant threat of federal prosecution.
> After all, physicians' treatment determinations depend on numerous
physical > and medical factors that doctors are schooled for years to observe and
> address. DEA agents are trained in law enforcement, not medicine. They
> should dedicate that training to its intended purpose, fighting the
> trafficking of illegal drugs.
>
> Please oppose the Pain Relief Promotion Act as a stand-alone measure and
> oppose its inclusion in any other legislation receiving consideration this
> year. By doing so, you will protect the rights of patients to receive the
> medical care that their doctors deem most effective and appropriate,
> preventing needless suffering and allowing limited federal law enforcement
> resources to be used most efficiently.
>
> Thank you for your consideration of my concerns. I look forward to your
> reply.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> (your name will be automatically filled in here)
>
> 8.) Click: Continue
>
> 9.) Follow instructions on each page...until your letter is sent.
>


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