Library
APS Bulletin • Volume 17, Number 2, 2007
Resource Reviews
John D. Loeser, MD, Department Editor
Ethical Issues in Chronic Pain Management
Reviewed by John D. Loeser, MD
Michael E. Shatman, (Ed.), New York, Informa Healthcare, 2007. Hard cover, ISBN 0-8493-9268-3, $149.95.
This book has a message: The relief of chronic pain has medical and moral aspects. The 18 well-referenced chapters cover a range of topics from philosophy and value-based ethics to the DEA. The first section covers ethics, philosophy, secular and theological ethics, and the immorality of contemporary American health care as demonstrated by the demise of multidisciplinary pain clinics. The second section addresses treatment disparities among children, older adults, and minorities. The third section focuses on opioids in noncancer pain and the related legal issues and concludes with a panegyric on cannabis. The fourth section about medicolegal issues targets disability determination, managed care, and courtroom testimony. The final section presents ethical issues in standards of care and research.
Although the price is outrageously high and the font is too small, this book is a useful addition to a pain practitioner’s library. Some chapters forced me to think differently about a topic that I have lived within for 40 years. The book reminds us that the business of medicine has overtaken ethics, and that health care that doesn’t generate large fees and revenue is becoming extinct. Health care is more than the application of technology with a CPT code. This book may lead you to become active in reclaiming health care that is built upon the doctor-patient relationship and patient outcomes and not business decisions.
Dr. Loeser is Professor of Neurological Surgery and Anesthesiology at the University of Washington in Seattle.
