People in chronic pain deserve respect and access to treatments that make their lives better. Sadly, many patients, like those whose stories you’ve read on my blog, have been failed by the system. Fear of law enforcement and regulatory guidelines, insurance limitations, and inadequate and uncaring medical care—intertwined factors like these leave patients doomed to being left in their pain.

Today, people in pain are regularly underserved, but rarely do policy and decision makers acknowledge this. The system works poorly for them, or works too slowly, or doesn’t work at all. Certain groups within society, notably women and members of ethnic minorities, tend to be disproportionately underserved. Many of those who are receiving medical care for pain are dissatisfied with their treatment and continue to endure moderate to severe pain.