Amy Mae Baxter

The government’s misguided attempt to address the opioid overdoses did more than change prescribing practices. It changed the relationship between doctors and patients, and not for the better.

As a prominent health care educator and advocate for chronic pain patients and their clinicians, I receive a large number of emails and potential papers in venues where I am active. Every week, I hear from people who have been harmed by U.S. government misdirection and outright health care fraud. Increasing numbers of those who come to me are doctors who have been railroaded into prison and had their lives destroyed by federal or state law enforcement authorities run amuck.

As a physician managing patients with chronic pain in California, I’ve witnessed the tension between necessary regulations and the daily reality of helping people in genuine distress. In the meantime, as a chairman for the National Campaign to Protect People in Pain (NCP3), I know how important it is to advocate for our patients.