NIH is allocating $270M additional funding for pain & opioid research. The researchers don't pocket this money. While I don't agree with research at the bedside without the knowledge/consent of patients & then using it to further restrict access, let's not spread misinformation.
Bad things are happening, but let's keep things in perspective. Researchers do not pocket millions in grants. The money goes toward studies which then influence the practice of medicine. This is the detail we should be focusing on. Here is an image detailing the process: 
The policy driving the response to the OD crisis as it relates to HC is the CDC's 2016 guideline, however, federal research is certainly going to change the way medicine is practiced. That is the point of embedded pragmatic clinical trials & comparative effectiveness research.
There is a real problem but the more people mischaracterize what's happening, the less traction we will have to impact it with a positive result. What we're dealing with is a system with several feedback loops, both positive/reinforcing loops, and negative/balancing loops.
We need to attack this on ethical & other grounds. We can do that by positively engaging the public with facts, not hyperbole, misinformation, or attacks on advocates working hard to improve the situation. This is a system with many moving pieces & is tied to economic health too.
This is a photo Dr. Darnall shared to her timeline about the additional funding provided by Congress to the NIH:
This page from the previously linked site explains what entities can apply for federal grants, although individuals rarely receive federal grant funds:
grants.gov/web/grants/lea…
grants.gov/web/grants/lea…
No one person is getting 270 million of federal funding. It was allocated to the NIH for additional studies on pain & opioids. While I don't trust the NIH and I think their ePCTs done without the knowledge or consent of patients are unethical, let's at least tell the truth.
This 270 million dollar fund ends up going to several different NIH projects, NOT people. This is a huge organization. No one person is profiting off of grant funds, many in the future will though because we're talking about a mechanism within the system that drives trends ...
... both in medicine, and the wider economy. I'm on your side folks but let's not spread misinformation because we're angry, tired, and hurting. It's ridiculous to claim Beth Darnall is the sole recipient of 270M because she made an announcement about funding allocation to NIH.
Such claims make us look incompetent and completely ignorant of how this system works. I understand some of you don't like Darnall, but she isn't the boogeyman, the system itself is the problem and all of its weight is currently suffocating us but we must stop conflating things.
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