Chronic Pain Thoughts: Doctor Patient Forum Repost

 Dear Reader,

This is a Doctor Patient Forum repost.

Caution: Prescribing: Drink Up ~ See article below

As someone who lives in Wisconsin, where every small town will have more bars than churches, alcohol is perfectly acceptable if you're over 21.

From Wine Mom's to Bloody Mary's on Sunday's, nobody bats an eye. Yet, Heaven forbid you need an opioid to get you through your day.

With 4 kids I've been to school functions where a mom says “Lord, after this I need a drink” and everybody laughs, yet if the disabled mom said “Lord, I need a pain pill after this” everybody would think she's an addict.

My own Mother-In-Law was denied actual pain medication for Cancer as she had a history of addiction. Instead, she was given Gabapentin, Cymbalta and Naltrexone. It wasn't until she was in palliative care that she was given stronger pain meds.

Please visit thedoctorpatienforum.com for more information

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You absolutely can't make this up. This landed in my inbox today from PharmedOut

They just sent out a fundraiser featuring a bottle of wine labeled “Cautious Prescribing.”

And honestly? That tracks.

Because using their definition of “cautious prescribing,” pain patients will absolutely need the wine, since to them, “cautious” usually means no prescribing. Cheers to abstinence-only medicine.

Alcohol? A fun metaphor.
Wine jokes? Adorable.
Opioids for legitimate pain patients? A moral panic.

For those newer here: PharmedOut, run by Adrienne Fugh-Berman, loves to position itself as a fearless watchdog of pharmaceutical influence, while somehow developing total amnesia when it comes to:

• Suboxone

• Buprenorphine exceptionalism

• Addiction-industry funding of CME

• Or any policy that actually harms pain patients

Funny how the watchdog never barks in that direction.

We’ve repeatedly documented how PharmedOut:

• Runs cover for addiction-industry narratives

• Functions as a serial expert-witness pipeline

• Was funded by funds from Attorney Generals from suing Pfizer

So yes, seeing “Cautious Prescribing” turned into a wine-label fundraising gimmick was genuinely laugh-out-loud absurd.

Because when pain patients point out this double standard, we’re told we’re emotional, biased, or dangerous, but when it’s packaged with a corkscrew, it’s “public health humor.”

The timing is perfect, though.
We directly address PharmedOut, and its role in this ecosystem, in our upcoming exclusive Patreon video, dropping December 31.

If you’ve ever felt gaslit by “cautious prescribing” rhetoric like this, you’re going to want to watch.

We see you.
We document everything.
And we don’t let this nonsense slide.