Our Pain series by CBS Las Vegas

This month a series called Our Pain ran on CBS TV in Las Vegas. You can see the start of the series here on chronic pain and the crisis pain patients now face in getting access to proper and timely care. It is being turned into a documentary and will include stories from this series and more that have come in in response. The person who put this all together is the award winning investigation journalist George Knapp.

George did one of the best jobs we have seen in journalist showing the voice and stories of the Millions of Americans who rely on opioid medications for pain relief are in anguish because of government pressure to reduce prescriptions across the board. The Doctors, pharmacists, and other providers that were included in the series have already made drastic cuts in the amount of pain medicine they dispense or are prescribed and we know that with more cuts on the way, lives of those in pain are in jeopardy.

I-Team reporter George Knapp shows a multi-view of those the opioid epidemic and chronic pain epidemic most affects. For those who live with chronic pain or take care of loved ones with chronic pain, this series has been something we have been longing for. It features voices of chronic pain patients including the International Pain Foundation President, Barby Ingle who documents her journey from dream job to wheelchair and recreating a new life. She went through so much in the medical world with over, under and miss treatment.

Here is a recap of Barby’s portion of night 1 of the series:

“I’ve been through it all,” said Barby Ingle, pain patient advocate. “Over treatment, under treatment, mistreatment, no treatment.”

Barby Ingle was a cheerleading coach at a major university, ran her own business, was happily married. Pain took it all away.

“Every single aspect of your life. Physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially, it wiped me out.”

Serious injuries put her in a wheelchair for seven years, which caused other painful diseases, including something called RSD.

“It feels like someone put lighter fluid on me, caught me on fire, and it’s real difficult to put out,” Ingle said.

Forty-three doctors later, she was treated with a powerful painkiller and got her life back. She now advocates for other pain patients who have, in effect, become opioid refugees.

“There is 100 million Americans and here in Nevada, approximately 980,000 chronic pain patients that need help. Opiates should not be taken off the table because there is media hype and hysteria,” she said.

We hope you join in on the conversation of this series online, all of NERVEmber with #OurPain, #NERVEmber and let your voice and story be heard as well.