'Pain Drug Champion' Under Senate Investigation for Financial Ties to the Pharmaceutical Industry

Part 2 in a series...

Russell K. Portenoy, MD

(MYRTLE BEACH, SC) - In December 2012 the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) wrote an article about Russell K. Portenoy, MD "appearing" to have second thoughts about pushing opioids for chronic pain.  Since Portenoy is under U.S. Senate investigation for financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry to potentially benefit financially in encouraging the medical profession to prescribe opioids disregarding the dangers of addiction, death and abuse - are his second thoughts "the fire is raging and my hose is out of water?"  Here is the link to the WSJ article on Portenoy http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324478304578173342657044604.html

As the WSJ referred to Portenoy as -- "the pain drug champion" I have been very skeptical of his second thoughts about pushing opioids. You know with the fire raging and the hose being out of water -- so I did some digging to see how sincere the good doctor truly was.

The American Medical Association (AMA) Module & Pain Management Pediatric Pain Management and found something that peaked my interest with Dr. Portenoy's and what made him tick.

The AMA Educational Course for Continued Medical Education (CME) stated "The pediatric population is at risk of inadequate pain management with age-related factors affecting pain management in children. Misconceptions exist that may contribute to pediatric patients receiving inadequate analgesics for procedures that would routinely be treated aggressively in adults Although much is now known about pain management in children, improvements are still needed to improve pediatric pain management in routine clinical practice".

This CME program offered by the AMA was supported through an educational grant from Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin.

On the top of the page as CME Principal Faculty was Russell K. Portenoy, MD, as Contributing Author and Planning Committee. In Dr. Portenoy's Disclosure listing relevant financial relationships, he lists Purdue Pharma.

In the CME course is a Self-Report Scale for Children -- if you aren't familiar with the "Oucher Scale", Dr Portenoy is. The "Poker Chip Scale" asks children to quantify their pain in "pieces of hurt" with more poker chips representing more pain. I have a question for Dr, Portenoy, the pain champion, what young child will just pick one poker chip up from a table when there are 10 sitting in front of them?

A couple of years ago, Dr. Portenoy sent me an email in reply to one of my articles for Salem-News.com sounding the alarm about deaths and addictions to opioids. Here is his email to me:

"After reading your piece in the Salem-News.com, I wanted to write and urge you to remember the millions with poorly controlled pain as you pursue your advocacy agenda. The consensus report released by the committee that I co-chaired was not about opioid therapy, but rather, about the need for fundamental reform of a system that fails to help huge numbers of patients -- of all ages -- and is both inefficient and too costly. It is not surprising that your piece is based on innuendo and unjustified assumptions when it (sic) there is so little in our report that relates to your issue. Hopefully, an increasingly informed public will only mirror the disappointment that I felt when reading a piece that dismisses the needs of so many suffering people in a stretch to make a point."

Stretch to make a point? I believe I have been the one for the past 10 years sounding the alarm on the addictive qualities of drugs such as OxyContin -- and I have not had any second thoughts -- our families are being destroyed because of sheer evil and greed.

“I don’t think opioids need to be thought of any differently than any other therapies,” said Dr. Portenoy, chairman of the pain medicine and palliative care department at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York. “It is just that right now, they have got our attention.”

A pain expert in Seattle, Dr. Jane C. Ballantyne, said she once agreed with Dr. Portenoy, but she now finds herself in the role of former believer turned crusading reformer.

“We started on this whole thing because we were on a mission to help people in pain,” she said of the medical profession’s embrace of opioids. “But the long-term outcomes for many of these patients are appalling, and it is ending up destroying their lives.”

Under Opioid Analgesics for the CME program that Dr. Portenoy serves on, it states "For the vast majority of children, opioids provide excellent analgesia with a wide margin of safety. Care to answer the question I have asked numerous times Dr. Portenoy -- how do you sleep at night because I don't buy the second thoughts you are trying to sell Why? Because the fire is raging and your hose is out of water.

LP -- His hands on your shoulders? More than ever. My being proud of you and loving you? More than ever.