Currently, bills addressing opioid misuse, overdose and addiction are quickly moving through Congress. However, legislation proposed to date has failed to include a critical component – funding for vital pain research to elucidate the causes and mechanisms of chronic pain and to develop safe, effective, non-addictive therapies to replace the need for addictive medications in the treatment of chronic pain.
We authored a blog post published in the Capitol Hill newspaper, The Hill, on February 23rd. We hope this publication helps to stimulate a long overdue national discussion on the crucial need for a robust basic, translational and clinical research effort on chronic pain; a discussion that spans across federal agencies and is commensurate with its human and economic toll. Further, it is our hope that funding for such an effort be allocated through regular channels and that the resulting bills address opioid misuse, so that both of these interrelated public health crises are adequately and appropriately addressed.