When Pain Management Goes Wrong Everyone Suffers

Posted by Kathy Quan Jan 12, 2009

Pain management is an important aspect of nursing. We learn how to use comfort measures to help ease pain and how and when to administer medications to control the pain at an acceptable level for the patient. We strive to teach patients how to use these tools to control their own pain. But when something goes wrong, it can ruin the whole process for many.

Last year my family experienced the tragic death of a young man who grew up with my son. They both loved baseball more than most things in life and they played the game from Little League through college. A car accident brought significant pain issues to this bright, active, terrific contributor to society and he became addicted. Apparently he wasn’t given appropriate professional help to deal effectively with the pain and how to safely use the medications. Consequently, one day he accidentally overdosed.

His was not an isolated incident. Pain management is not an easy concept to teach, much less to understand, but health care professionals must take care to prescribe and utilize pain control tools safely. Effective pain management is a team effort and manufacturers have the responsibility to ensure that physicians, nurses, and therapists who use and prescribe these tools are informed of potential safety risks and issues.

I recently spoke with Eric Chaffin, Esq., a partner at Bernstein Liebhard LLP, about the general subject matter of several of his cases involving consumer injuries. One of the issues that hit home with me was the risk of PAGCL from pain pumps which deliver anesthetic medication to surgical sites.

Chaffin and his firm represent injured patients in shoulder pain pump lawsuits which allege that the manufacturers have not informed health professionals about the risks that these pumps present. Without this information, patients obviously cannot be informed of potential risks, and the quality of care is being compromised.

From my standpoint as a health care professional, this is a huge issue. Patients as well as health care professionals need to be informed of this potential risk. Read more about PAGCL and the Risks of Shoulder Pain Pump Therapy.

Another important point that Chaffin raised during our interview is that,“the likely first significant cut off date for statutes of limitations are coming up in July of this year [2009]” and those who have experienced PAGCL should move quickly if they wish to seek restitution.