Thread by @JillPiggott

.@nytimes Ginia Bellafante wrote an essay to say she didn't need post-surgery #opioids, so she didn't take them. That's not news. #Pain patients are being forced off effective, FDA-approved meds, causing #suicide & unnecessary #disability, & OD rates still climb. That's the news.

CDC, FDA, HHS say no one should be forced off #opioids, yet rising # of doctors have practice-wide bans & @nytimes has 1st pg piece by someone who wasn't affected in the LEAST by any of this? People are DYING from untreated #pain & ODs because restricting Rx meds helps no one.

.@nytimes: Bellafante had a CHOICE. She didn't need #opioids, so she didn't take them. I know people who are DEAD & DISABLED because their doctors dumped them off meds they were taking safely for years on the grounds that the same med might harm someone else. That's unacceptable.

.@nytimes Here's a REAL story. 40.7% of primary-care doctors won't take patients who require #opioids. As a result, many patients can't find "primary-care practitioners willing to care for them" (JAMA 2019).

We founded @headsUPmigraine to help people appeal insurance denials & lobby Congress for funding & disability rights. I had no idea #suicide prevention would be the most impt thing I do.

@nytimes, please cover this policy disaster accurately.

@headsUPmigraine @nytimes .@GiniaNYT Please write about the people who've lost work, marriages, custody of their kids, & hope because they've been denied safe, effective care for #pain.

@LelenaPeacock's mother's #dementia worsened when she was forced to replace #opioids w/ 3 meds that made her worse.

.@JessicaMulein tweets bravely about her #suicide attempt after she was denied effective care. Read DOJ lawyer & #pain patient Kate Nicholson @speakingabtpain. Follow @StefanKertesz who advocates for us. See what people tweet w/ #CPP #spoonie #opioid #opioidhysteria.

@JessicaMulein @speakingabtpain @StefanKertesz @threadreaderapp unroll