Needless Suffering: How Society Fails Those with Chronic Pain

by David Nagel

Needless Suffering offers a sociological examination of a complex medical problem: chronic pain and the inability of doctors and other health professionals to understand and manage it in their patients. People in pain, writes Dr. David Nagel, are the poor of the medical world. Like the poor, they are stigmatized and left at the mercy of powerful social actors who tend to work in their own self-interest, frequently at the expense of those they propose to serve. This leaves those who suffer with little control over their own destinies and creates a dysfunctional status quo that harms instead of helps. Drawing on his own experience witnessing his mother’s chronic pain and numerous clinical stories from over thirty years’ expertise as a pain management specialist, Nagel looks first at patients, their families, and their doctors (usually not trained in pain management), and then broadens his canvas to elaborate a pain power structure that includes the entire healthcare community, insurers, lawyers, government regulators, employers, politicians, law enforcement agencies, and painkilling drugs. Concluding with concrete reforms to create more effective and compassionate pain care, this book is designed for pain patients and their families, healthcare providers, legislators and other public policymakers, judges, personal injury and other attorneys, insurers, government regulators, law enforcement personnel, and health care businesspeople.

Genres: Nonfiction, Philosophy, Health

320 pages, Paperback

First published July 5, 2016

Reviews

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since my father died two years ago, I have read a number of books dealing with hospice, healthcare management in the U.S.A., chronic pain, end-of-life, etc.

This is an excellent book written by an experienced MD, David Nagel. He covers the failure of our society in managing the chronic pain of patients; it often ignored, often understood. When a loved one is the "main character" instead of someone in a case study, things change.

The thing that sticks with me the most is a quote from the Epilogue: "The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity." (Rollo May, The courage to Create) Wow, right?

Dr. Nagel eventually gives up his practice because he can no longer conform. But don't think him a hero, nor a coward, he was doing what was right to him.

[Soren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was incredible, insightful, and thoughtful. As a chronic pain warrior myself, the empathy and understanding the author shows really impacted me. I really enjoyed how the author used personal experiences to form and then demonstrate his points. But maybe one of my favorite things about the novel was how he gave thoughtful suggestions. He didnt just say: the system is broken. Almost everyone recognizes that the system is broken. But he offered ideas and suggedtions about how to solve the system.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Needless Suffering: How Society Fails those With Chronic Pain by David Nagel, MD (University Press of New England 2016) (616.90472). This is a thoughtful analysis of the current state of the hysteria surrounding the opiod-prescribing protocols in modern American medicine, and the current situation is a nightmare for all: patients, medical providers, and society at large. He asserts that he believes that cannabis should be a Schedule II medication. At least he is for decriminalization and medical use. My rating: 7/10, finished 2/4/18.

[Vanessa James-brooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be honest this was a hard book to get into I mean I was expecting to learn about chronic pain not about one mans insight into chronic pain. By the way Chronic pain has a HUGE range . Ok so your wondering what that means, well there is underlined conditions that are hard to diagnose that are more painful than others like rheumatoid arthritis, Lupus , fibromyalgia , depression, the list of chronic pain diseases are actually endless. Back to this book, if your looking for basically a "Story" of his life with his mothers chronic pain then go ahead and read this. BUT if your looking for a self help book this is so not it.

[Jamie Holloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

I posted my review on the blog.