If medicine or surgery wasn't successful, we would present the patient to the venerable, white-haired professor who, after barking a peremptory question or two at the patient, would make a diagnosis for which there was an approved treatment. With a wave of his hand the professor dismissed the patient and we all went on to the next patient. Even though the professor made a new diagnosis and we tried new surgeries and drugs, many times the pain was not resolved and the patients came back to the hospital again and again, their pain and suffering intensified. When I went into private practice, it was obvious that what I had learned during my medical training was not sufficient to really help my patients. Medicines which were good at reducing the pain of a heart attack, for example, weren't of value in treating the chronic comeback-pain patient.
Pharmaceutical companies produce more and more drugs, many designed for pain.
Many hospitalized patients have ADRs, which account for the deaths of 100,000 hospitalized patients. According to best estimates, ADRs are the fourth to sixth leading cause of death in this country. They must be used with great caution, if used at all. In 1988 The American Academy of Pain Management was formed to solve the problem of pain management by bringing together the various practitioners who treat patients in pain. The American Academy of Pain Management is the largest society of pain management professionals in the United States.