September Drug-Free Pain Management Month

A resolution supporting the ending opioid abuse and advancing utilization of drug-free chiropractic care has been introduced by the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP) for use during Drug-Free Pain Management Month in September. 

The resolution points out that prescription opioid use and abuse leads to addiction and catastrophic outcomes.  This has become a national crisis becoming the leading cause of injury death in the United States.  It notes that in just 17 years it has resulted in more than three times the U.S. military deaths during the twenty years of the Vietnam War, killing more than 350,000 people.

It notes that 115 people per day are lost due to opioid overdoses and more than forty thousand people died from opioid overdoses in the U.S. in 2016.  Further it notes that the newest estimates on the cost of opioid abuse to U.S. employers is estimated at $18 billion in sick days, lost productivity and medical expenses, and that prescription opioids are often recommended for low back, neck, and musculoskeletal pain management.

The resolution notes that doctors of chiropractic are educated and trained to effectively address spinal and neuro-musculoskeletal pain with non-surgical, non-drug management and that numerous published studies document chiropractic manipulation as effective for the management of neck and back pain.

F4CP calls for September 2018 to be declared Drug-Free Pain Management Month, to raise public awareness that chiropractic care is the primary first-line, non-pharmacologic approach to safely and effectively relieve acute, subacute and chronic pain.

Source:  https://www.f4cp.org/package/home/viewfile/broseptember-roadmap