Article : Ban term 'painkiller' to end obsession with drugs

[Arnie Pye]

Link : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51378510

The term "painkiller" should not be used, to help bust the myth they cure pain, a government adviser suggests.

Prof Jamie Coleman said the phrase raised unrealistic expectations - with "pain-reliever" a better option.

Research suggests just one in 10 patients seeking help for long-term pain, benefit from strong painkillers.

Prof Coleman also said he was in favour of ending the over-the-counter sale of low-dose codeine drugs in pharmacies, to combat prescription drug addiction.

He said even in low doses, the medication could become addictive, and users risked serious side-effects, such as vomiting and nausea.

Article continues at : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51378510

I don't believe that painkillers are as useless as we are being told they are, although I accept that it is essential to find the right one for the patient for them to work as well as possible. I'm wondering what the ultimate purpose of this bad publicity about pain relief is - to stop supplying them and save money? If doctors don't reduce or treat pain what use are they? They've already decided that patients lie all the time and that MUS are all in the head.

 

[wdb]

Maybe connected to the CBT brigade going on another land-grab...
https://www.s4me.info/threads/guard...-as-well-as-drugs-say-experts-feb-2020.13488/

 

[rvallee]

That's a change in no particular direction based on very flawed perception. It's an obsession in the exact same sense as breathing oxygen is something people are very obsessed with.

Drug medications are in demand because they are effectively much better than nothing, for some, and I was told that this is the only thing that counts when it comes to treatment. It has nothing to do with the name though, they actually do work better than nothing for many, unless the standard psychosocial crap where better than nothing is a cheap (well, actually very expensive but whatever) illusion.

It's such a curse that most pain medication is euphoric. It basically destroyed medicine's ability to handle pain with maturity and reason.