Our Mission
http://www.aarp.org/about-aarp/
AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, social welfare organization with a membership of nearly 38 million that helps people turn their goals and dreams into real possibilities, strengthens communities and fights for the issues that matter most to families — such as health care, employment and income security, and protection from financial abuse.
It has been claimed that the “biggest enemy” of a chronic pain pt is their family and the local pharmacist. Because neither really knows what is going on with a particular pt’s overall health. All they know is the “large quantity” of medications that they take including those “bad opiates”.
Go to their website and search for “alcoholic” and you get 98 articles.. search for “opiate addiction” and you get 157 articles… search for “Nicotine addiction” and you get 57 articles.. The addiction (Nicotine) that kills the most people gets the least amount of “ink”… Alcoholism kills more than addiction and yet opiate addiction gets the MOST INK.
Type in “chronic pain” and you get 3030 articles and in reading the dozen or so articles.. it is all about “alternative therapies” including a article from the infamous DR.OZ.
It would appear that their MISSION STATEMENT of “fighting for what matters most to families “… HEALTH being one… that apparently they are aligning themselves with all those in the Federal/State bureaucracies that believes that prescribing opiates causes addiction.
In 2016 AARP spent $8,710,000 on lobbying http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D000023726&year=2016 If one looks at the articles that they have published… one can come to the conclusion that little/none of that nearly NINE MILLION DOLLARS was spent on the issue of better chronic pain treatment for the 38 million seniors that they claim that they represent.
The question has to be asked… so all those 50+ y/o “seniors ” who suffer from chronic pain… support an organization that appears to be SILENT on one of their most pressing personal health issues ?
Filed under: General Problems
I would like everybody to know that I did get a reply back from AARP that “did not appear” to be a form letter. They did state that they were sharing the e-mail with the editorial staff and went on to state that feedback helped shape future issues. I will see. I basically stated that they had performed a great disservice to their members by not telling the entire story. I did state that my husband and I would not be renewing our membership.
I had been a member of AARP for 20 years. After their last anti-opioid, rant, I wrote a detailed e-mail concerning their position on opioids and the older American. I dropped my membership. I have not heard back from them. One would expect that an organization which is supposed to stand up for issues affecting the older person, would have researched this issue in depth and realized that there are 100 million chronic pain patients needing this medicine to function. I think there will be many many more people applying for Social Security disability. Pain is an issue that has to be considered in disability determinations.
It is my understanding that the AARP has 35 millions members that pay for your services even if AARP is non-profit agency who is suppose to be there for the aging people over 55. It is suppose to help the elderly live longer better lives make life better and happier nore productive and be able to spend more time wiht family. Now you have decided to jump in on the Opiate band wagon against Chronic Pain Suffers wanting us to spend the rest of what life we have left in Horriable Pain. Why woould you do this to us after all the years you have been known for being Advcates for us now you want to throw us under the bus like we are drug addicits laying around on the streets with needles in our arms stealing from our families getting on Disability and nothing being wrong with us.I use to be a proud American but now I am ashamed of what our country is doing to our sick and elderly. Causeing more deaths from over dosing from VA members and People that have had the medication that has given some sort of life I guess this is one way to get rid of people that is just costing the Goverment more.
I am, along with the 100 millions of other Americans, are on the other end of opioids. I am one of these 100 million Americans who have a chronic incurable pain disease. As the CDC, DEA and Medicaid and Medicare, and numerous other government agencies, are blaming Doctors for the over prescribing of medication, NOBODY, is looking at or reading the statistics from chronic pain disease patients. How about NOT addressing these drugs as dangerous and addictive. Let’s look at them as lifesaving and medically necessary for the million of Americans with a chronic disease? Chronic pain is a disease. Chronic pain disease patients are now the epidemic. The addiction rate of chronic pain disease patients is .02-.6 %. We do not abuse our medications.
No other disease medication is scrutinized. We, as patients, are being denied, dismissed, overlooked and discriminated against, by our physicians, due to all the scrutiny associated with treating chronic pain disease. Our Dr’s are afraid to treat us humanely and adequately. We have a disease that medication is readily accessible to us and we are being denied. We, pain patients, are being discriminated against, due to people who have use illegal heroin, illegal fentanyl and place the blame on everyone but themselves. This is a witch hunt for Doctors who prescribe life saving medication for pain disease patients who benefit from this medication.
We have a chronic disease. We want to be able to take care of our homes, our children, our selves, as much as possible, but without access to these life saving medications, we are unable to do so. We want to live not just exist in pain 24/7.
We need the government agencies to look at the real statistics, not the hand picked. These agencies are not physicians. They are trying to doctor us patients without a medical license. They are also trying to police our physicians. This is a war on a disease for all chronic pain.
We need help. All the headlines, topics and stories on how opioids are bad and how people are abusing and dying from them, let’s look at the good they do and how they help our disease of chronic pain and the million of Americans who use/need them to relieve pain.
The government needs to put the focus on illegal drugs coming into and being manufactured in this country, illegal fentanyl, illegal heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and all other ILLEGAL DRUGS. Not the legally and medically necessary medications we patients need.
I e-mailed them about this fact. Got back a note saying they appreciate my thoughts on chronic pain and my opinion matters. They are taking all comments into consideration etc. etc. Probably a form letter but at least I tried.
Did they not post your comment?