Ex-pharma chief charged with flooding Appalachian towns with opioids

[Jedi Guy]

27. Part of the problem is that medical science can't really "measure" pain.

It's basically just "a distressing feeling caused by intense or damaging stimuli." We know that some conditions cause certain types of pain, which are potentially useful in diagnosing the issue, but it's really hard to get an objective measure of pain.

As an example of how subjective pain can be, I carried a kidney stone around for six months because they were hoping it'd pass without requiring surgery, and I was working full-time for the entire duration. A friend of mine got a kidney stone and was, for all intents and purposes, totally out of commission for two weeks. I was taking Vicodin and able to function, though I definitely was not a happy camper. He was taking Percocet, a stronger pain med, and he was still unable to function. Same condition, very different responses to the pain it caused.

The only somewhat-objective measure of pain that I've ever heard of is fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging), which isn't exactly practical to use every time someone comes in and complains of pain. Apart from that, physiological responses such as blood pressure, heart rate, and the like can be an indication of whether or not someone is shamming or exaggerating, but those are also affected by pain tolerance.

The best solution to the present issue would be to find/create a medication that effectively kills pain but has no addictive component. The problem is that drug companies have no incentive to do so, because when your medications are effective and addictive, you have a golden goose. For that reason, I'm not holding my breath regarding a breakthrough pain med anytime soon.