It can be fixed, by the way. I have been working in this realm for a long time. I have yet to see the patient whose suffering we could not make significantly better. It involves more than just morphine and more than just a doctor. It involves a real commitment on the part of a system to address the needs of people.
People suffer from the pain, obviously, when it s untreated.
They suffer from the sense of being a burden, of being hopeless. They also suffer from isolation. That takes it out of just the realm of medicine. I m afraid that this quick fix that s being offered will act as an escape valve, allowing the profession of medicine, which really needs some real remedial help right now, a way to continue to avoid the deep roots of the problem. This isn t about the profession of medicine.