FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (2/11/05)
Contact: Rev. Ronald V. Myers, Sr., M.D., President
American Pain Institute (API)
662-247-1471 202-331-8864
e-mail: MyersFound@aol.com
www.AmericanPainInstitute.org
Pain Advocacy Grass Roots Leaders Call For Congressional Hearings
on the Pain Crises in America
"America's In Pain!" - MARCH ON WASHINGTON - "Silent No More!"
2nd Annual National Pain Rally
(Washington, DC) - Calling for "Congressional Hearings on the Pain Crises in America", grass roots pain advocacy groups are pushing lawmakers to take action. The American Pain Institute (API) and the National Juneteenth Medical Commission (NJMC) are organizing the "America's In Pain" - MARCH ON WASHINGTON - "Silent No More", 2nd Annual National Pain Rally, at the U.S. Capitol Reflecting Pool, Saturday, April 30, 2005, from 11:00am - 3:00pm, in Washington, DC.
"The DEA war on drugs has turned into war on pain patients and the physicians who treat them," states Rev. Ronald V. Myers, Sr., M.D., a Baptist Medical Missionary serving the poor in the Mississippi Delta and Founder & President of the American Pain Institute (API). "Unable to find a doctor willing to treat them, many pain patients are choosing suicide over living with chronic pain."
Dr. Myers, a Family Practitioner, who was recently featured in People Magazine and ABC News Good Morning America, lost medical malpractice insurance coverage because of legitimately treating chronic pain patients. Considered a victim of a "medical malpractice lynching" by the state's only malpractice insurance carrier, the Medical Assurance Company of Mississippi, Dr. Myers, identifies with the morally reprehensible situation that chronic pain patients find themselves, as one of the most highly
discriminated group of chronically ill patients in America.
"Over 50 million people are living in untreated, disabling pain," states Dr. Myers. "The DEA has unjustly prosecuted many physicians who treat chronic pain, shutting down their medical practices, giving many long prison terms and in my case, unjustly taking away my medical malpractice insurance. The irresponsible actions of the DEA "witch hunt" of many good physicians who treat chronic pain has led to a health care catastrophe in America."
Organizers of the MARCH ON WASHINGTON are gathering signatures on petitions calling for Congress to conduct hearings. They plan to present these petitions to members of Congress before and after the march.
"Far too many people have chosen suicide over living with untreated chronic pain," states Rev., Dr. Myers. "The DEA's hysteria over oxycontin, we hope, will be quickly investigated by Congress to turn the tide on the epidemic of pain patient suicides. The increased suicides among chronic pain patients demonstrates the morally reprehensible actions of the DEA."
For information on the "America's In Pain!" - MARCH ON WASHINGTON - "Silent No More!" and how you can sign the petition calling for congressional hearings, call Dr. Myers at 662-247-1471 or 202-331-8864, web sites: www.PainCoalition.us or
www.AmericanPainInstitute.org, e-mail: MyersFound@aol.com. Donations to cover the cost of the march are greatly appreciated!
top