Women In Pain, let your voices be heard! The US Center for Disease Control has issued a draft that revises their 2016 Opioid Guideline which many criticized as an over-correction to mitigate the Opioid Crisis. Due to pushback from pain patients and healthcare professionals, the CDC has taken steps to improve the guideline which emphasizes individualized care and the importance of treating pain. Before a final version is released, a public comment period is now open to gain vital feedback from the community. For Grace encourages women in pain to voice their feelings on this important treatment guideline by the April 11 deadline. Here are two resources (here and here) that provide an excellent overview - along with instructions on how and where to comment.
For Grace leaders are excited to be in formal meetings with a California Senator's office to jump start pain care legislation first proposed at our 2019 Capitol briefing. That event was a great success as it brought much awareness to legislators, staffers and agency heads about the plight of people with chronic pain and the challenges they face to maintain quality of life and procure effective care. A great start to a (hopeful) 2023 bill! Please check back soon for details...
Check out For Grace's March 2022 Story of the Month where we're spotlighting an exceptional story of perseverance and courage! As a young woman, Lezli Kuntze developed breast cancer as a side effect to in vitro fertilization. After treatment and years of remission, she believes a prolonged, painful gall bladder attack triggered a different form of breast cancer. Lezli decided to make her new fight fun and positive, and using her bald head as a pallet (Healing Head Art), she encourages friends and family to paint expressions of "colour and love!"
For Grace founder Cynthia Toussaint's latest Pain News Network column was highlighted on PharmedOut.com's February 2022 newsletter. Writer Judy Butler details Cynthia's struggle to maintain ethical standing as a pain leader while wrangling with Purdue Pharma's efforts to flood the US with OxyContin using nonprofits as fronts (also known as "astroturfing".) PharmedOut is a well-regarded advocate for the ethical and transparent marketing of pharmaceuticals and devices - and they applaud Cynthia's courage to come forward with her harrowing story.
