Media Advisory/Interview Opportunity - New hope for pain sufferers in Ontario

Proposed prescription drug strategy promotes education - not restriction

TORONTO, Aug. 27 /CNW/ - The Canadian Pain Society (CPS) applauds the Ontario government's intention to introduce legislation this fall to help address the misuse of prescription pain medications, while ensuring access to pain medication for those who need it most.  Misuse of prescription medication is a serious problem. However, the CPS strongly believes education and providing adequate treatment resources, not restriction to proven treatment options, is the solution to this growing challenge.

Canada's pain management experts agree that pain medication, when prescribed properly and taken as directed, can effectively treat suffering and dramatically improve a patient's quality of life. The key, physicians and researchers say, is to improve public understanding surrounding one of the most misunderstood areas of modern medicine.

"Misuse of prescription pain medicine is a serious safety concern and needs to be addressed in a holistic way by targeting the many reasons people choose to abuse drugs. The solution is not simply a case of restricting the supply of pain medications, as so many media reports seem to suggest. Drug abuse and addiction is more about the person taking a drug and their vulnerabilities rather than the properties of the drug itself," says Dr. Roman Jovey, an Ontario based pain treatment and addiction expert. "I support the Ontario government's mandate to curb drug misuse and increase public awareness of pain education and treatment as long as any new regulations do not end up punishing legitimate people with pain."

"Access to appropriate pain management, which may include opioids along with other non-opioid medications and non pharmacotherapeutic, is critical for the millions of Canadians living in pain," states Dr. Mary Lynch, president of the Canadian Pain Society. "The Ontario government's proposed strategy will hopefully allow physicians to minimize, as much as possible, the risk of misuse and addiction while encouraging education and patient dialogue. It is very important that this complex issue be presented in a balanced way so as not to perpetuate misconceptions that have done significant harm to people living with chronic pain."

Interview opportunities:

Pain treatment and addiction expert Dr. Roman Jovey is available to comment on the implications of this new drug strategy and the positive effect it can have on patients in Ontario.

About the Canadian Pain Society:

The Canadian Pain Society has been a chapter of the International Association for the Study of Pain since 1982. The aim of the CPS is to foster and encourage research on pain mechanisms and pain syndromes and to help improve the management of patients with acute and chronic pain by bringing together the basic scientists and health professionals of various disciplines and backgrounds who have an interest in pain research and management. www.canadianpainsociety.ca

For further information:

or to schedule an interview:
Rob McEwan
Argyle Communications
416-968-7311 Ext. 242
[email protected]