OPIATES ARE 'GOLD STANDARD' FOR RELIEF

Editor:

Re: Your Feb. 26th reprint of "The Price of Health and Painkillers" from
the Salt Lake City Tribune.

Yes, one thing badly needed is to stop those abominable "Ask your doctor if
____ is right for you" ads. Action is also needed at the other end of the
drug advertising spectrum the absolute silence on opiates as painkillers.

Opiates are the gold standard of pain relief. They are not harmful to any
organs if taken as prescribed. There is a risk of addiction, but it is very
slight unless the patient has a history of abusing other drugs. If a
patient reacts badly to the NSAID and COX-2 painkillers, and has no history
of drug abuse, the doctor should consider opiates.

The media has not done a good job of reporting on this. According to the
AMA (American Medical Association), "Unbalanced and misleading media
coverage on the abuse of opioid analgesics not only perpetuates
misconceptions about pain management; it also compromises the access to
adequate pain relief sought by over 75 million Americans living with pain."
See www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/11541.html.

John Chase, Palm Harbor, Fla.