NAPOLEAN AT JAFFA

NAPOLEAN TOUCHING THE PLAQUE VICTIMS AT JAFFA 1804 PAINTING.

Its not 1804 but not much has changed. The Legend is that Napoleon had many of these people killed.(incurables). What about the war on chronic pain? Lets dispense with the niceties. Our Patients are now as the Plague victims in this Antoine Jean Gros painting.

No one wants to see them, let alone touch them. They are pariahs. Lets just put in more spinal cord stimulators or do more invasive surgeries. As long as they have insurance.

Those of us who were early Pain management physicians tried to put a face on these countless untreated or under treated patients.We were successful to a degree, but other forces came into play with all their predjudices. Those of us who constantly fight for the rights of suffering individuals are largely silenced now. We can't be heard over the shouts of the anti opiate crowd.

Until the patients speak louder the doctors voices will become fainter.

I am just the messenger. But it is a really great painting!