from the Institute for Patient Access
By Sammantha Dorazio
Chronic diseases have a way of rewriting people’s life plans. Just consider my longtime dream of being a college athlete.
One day I was training for championships with my varsity swim team. The next thing you know, I’m being rushed to a hospital with chest pain and swollen joints. I wound up in a rheumatology clinic, where I was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis.
Treating pain without opioids has become possible for many patients through novel drugs approved by a regulatory process called 505(b)(2). Now, access to these treatments is in jeopardy.
Victory over pain is the greatest gift an anesthesiologist like me can offer his patients. I discovered that firsthand when I switched from general surgery to anesthesiology 20 years ago.
When doctors like myself have the freedom to prescribe effective, FDA-approved treatments to their patients, everyone wins. But deciding the right type, dose and duration of pain medications can be challenging.