HIPPOCRATIC OATH


Freedom Sight is fast becoming one of my favorite blogs. Jeb is my kind of civil libertarian. He has an excellent post up on the prosecution of pain management physicians in Florida under the aegis of the war on drugs.

The ranks of drug policy reformers swells with this newly persecuted class of civil society and their professional organizations are increasing going public with their criticism of these ill-conceived strategies to combat drug abuse.

The Pain Relief Network Joining The National Physician and Patient Advocacy Groups and the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons are all condemning the war on drugs as it's playing out in Florida.

The truly absurd aspect of the DEA's campaign against the appropriate practice of pain management is that the doctor's are mandated by their licensing agencies to prescribe the proper levels of medication and the DEA is then prosecuting them for fulfilling that requirement. As a result it's easier to find a dermatologist than it is a family physician.


Jeb doesn't often address the war on drugs at Freedom Sight but when he does, he's right on target.

When the war on (some) drugs turns into a war on doctors, will it be enough to make people understand the dangers of zealotry? It's exactly this kind of thinking that has caused the increase in all manner of stupid laws and policies which, in effect, punish all of us for the actions of the few who commit real offenses. We see this in cases such as zero-tolerance policies in schools, where students are disciplined for possessing over-the-counter pain, cold, or allergy medicine. We see it when law abiding citizens are deprived their right to keep and bear arms because of the actions of criminals. And now we're seeing it where doctors are discouraged from providing necessary care for those suffering from chronic, debilitating pain, because some prosecutors apparently can't tell the difference between someone suffering from cancer, and a junkie.

I agree. It's the DEA and its lackeys who should be prosecuted for criminal interference in the practice of medicine.