The Danger of Treating Pain, Continued
Nov. 22nd, 2017 08:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ndrosenJacob Sullum has a longer article up at Reason about Dr. Tennant, who treats patients in severe pain, sometimes reducing their dosages of opioids, but sometimes giving them more opioids and other medications than the DEA approves of. He is now being prosecuted for having the gall to practice medicine according to his conscience and professional judgement, instead of the Drug Enforcement Administration's.
There is also a free speech issue here, for we have reason to suspect that Dr. Tennant has been selected for prosecution partly for his participation in public discourse. To quote from Mr. Sullum's article: "The affidavit also notes that Tennant championed the California Pain Patient's Bill of Rights, a 1997 law affirming that 'opiates can be an accepted treatment' for 'severe intractable pain.'"
It looks to me as if the prosecution should be dropped, and someone at the DEA sent back to the dreaded private sector, preferably as a ditch digger.
There is also a free speech issue here, for we have reason to suspect that Dr. Tennant has been selected for prosecution partly for his participation in public discourse. To quote from Mr. Sullum's article: "The affidavit also notes that Tennant championed the California Pain Patient's Bill of Rights, a 1997 law affirming that 'opiates can be an accepted treatment' for 'severe intractable pain.'"
It looks to me as if the prosecution should be dropped, and someone at the DEA sent back to the dreaded private sector, preferably as a ditch digger.
