Pain management can be a tough pill to swallow

Tammy lives in Louisiana. Nancy's in Ohio. And Steven's in Pennsylvania.

They'll never meet each other. But they have something life-altering in common: Because of completely different medical problems, they are each so wracked with pain that it dominates each of their lives, squeezing out joy and accomplishment.

This week, each one of them wrote to me asking for help after reading on the Internet a newspaper story published earlier this month on the challenges of pain management in Utah. A colleague who worked on the article with me has received similar pleas for help.

How desperate would you have to be to seek pain relief from reporters?

Effective pain management is becoming as much a national crisis — and perhaps more expensive to our country — as concerns about misuse of pain medications. Doctors fear prescribing certain medications, because they worry that someone will become addicted or that they will be held responsible for over- or under-treating pain. Some simply don't know the most effective way to deal with pain or the steps a doctor can take to protect both himself and the patient from concerns about overuse, according to local pain specialists.

There are worries about robberies tied to street sales of prescription drugs. And black markets and young addicts and — the list is long.

What you hear less about is the other cost, the incredible amount of lost productivity attributed to people who can't work because of persistent, debilitating pain. I'm not sure anyone has a clue how high that cost runs, since many of the sufferers are hidden away in their homes.

I'm learning that each of their stories is unique, but not necessarily unusual. In addition to a number of letters from other parts of the country, we've heard from Utahns who suffer. It's clear to me that their experiences could belong to any one of us. The patient in uncontrollable pain tomorrow, seeking relief and forced in some cases to actually beg, could be me. Or you.

"I have had pain in my back from an accident since 1988. I have seen doctor after doctor after doctor. Who all don't want to help me for the fear of addiction. I am in so much pain, life is not worth living anymore. I am so tired of seeing doctors and having test after test and only receive a small amount of pain pills and always run out. Then I have to jump through hoops and am always told I have to learn to deal with the pain," writes Steven.