Misplaced blame and isolation have made the opioid crisis worse

Let’s stop the suffering together. The costs of the opioid crisis—both human and monetary—are staggering.

Between 2001 and 2017, the opioid crisis cost the United States more than $1 trillion, most of which according to an Altarum report, comes from productivity losses, lost earnings and health care expenses. More importantly, this epidemic is costing people’s lives. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 130 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose. Our communities and our economy are suffering.

Everyone is alarmed, and the medical, pharmaceutical, political, insurance and legal professions are under immense pressure to stop opioids. But now, in the midst of reports from the American College of Physicians and others that showed thousands of cases of chronic pain sufferers were prescribed opioids by their doctors then abruptly cut off—causing dozens of reported suicides and hundreds of increased disabilities—we ask if in our rush to help if we haven’t done more harm.

Where is the disconnect?

As it turns out, the answer is complicated. Guidelines by the CDC, as well as the Food and Drug Administration, urged doctors to use caution when prescribing higher opioid doses and to largely avoid prescribing opioids for chronic pain. The agencies then cracked down in an attempt to stem the tide of the worst overdose crisis in history. But these guidelines were misapplied, quickly becoming legal and insurance restrictions that sent doctors and pharmacists scrambling for compliance as pain sufferers were abandoned by the system meant to protect them.

Late last month, the CDC issued a critical clarification of its 2016 Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain, and that’s an important step. It reveals systemic issues and should take the blame off those suffering, freeing physicians up to do what is humane and effective.

Still, it is painfully clear that we are all but ignoring the pain altogether. The solution must come not only from federal and local governments, but also from the private sector, as individuals step up to help fellow Americans from slipping into agony and despair. Every day that we wait to get involved and discuss the very real pain our neighbors are experiencing; we lose ground in this battle.

As someone who has worked in the chronic pain management industry for 23 years, I want to make a difference. I’ve started a foundation to address the opioid epidemic by helping fund initiatives that save lives from opioid overdose, help people escape the cycle of relapse and support victims and their families.

We’ve really just begun, but our initial research and preliminary partnerships reveal that we can make a difference collectively. We have to get loud and create non-traditional coalitions to actively support initiatives for positive change. We need your help.

Here’s my challenge to you: let’s band together. Mistakes happen when industries are isolated from one another and the pain sufferers are isolated altogether. We’ll get nowhere if we don’t share information while changing the conversation around pain, including shame and separation that drives people deeper into the crisis and keeps them there.

Millions of people are hurting from severe physical pain, self-medicating mental illness and are trapped in addiction—from the “junkies” who are typically the face of this epidemic to the soccer moms and entertainers we admire.

The first step to help us get there is to share what you know so we’re making informed decisions. I invite you to take our 360 survey and share it with your friends. Let’s fight this deadly epidemic and help end the stigma of chronic pain together.

About the Arthur: Thomas Sandgaard, born in Denmark, moved to the United States in 1996 and became a citizen in February of 2018. He founded The Sandgaard Foundation to help end the opioid epidemic in 2018. He is also the founder and CEO of Zynex Medical, now a publicly traded medical device company focused on prescription strength pain management helping patients avoid or reduce the use of opioids.