New Mexico Attorney General Speaks Out

(Letter from Mary Baluss, attorney for the Bazelon Center)

"This case involves serious issues of medical practice having national
implications.  The field of pain management in which Respondent practices is
a relatively new and still developing area of medicine.  The treatment of
pain, per se, is a concept to which the medical profession has only recently
begun to pay appropriate attention.  Some practicing physicians are still
significantly undertreating pain in their patients.  One of the reasons for
such undertreatment are exaggerated fears of opioid side effects and
addiction.  Another is the fear of health professionals of regulatory
action, even when opioids are used appropriately for pain relief, and
despite the fact that there are no federal or state laws prohibiting opioid
use for analgesia."

Author: The Attorney General of the State of New Mexico in support of a
surprise motion yesterday for a continuance in the State Medical Board's
aggressively played case against Dr. Joan Lewis!  She goes on to state that
she had just become aware of the case and it's implications and wants to
review the matter in detail. The AG provides legal representation to the
board and the case to date has been vigorously prosecuted by assistant
attorneys general.

Mary Baluss
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Washington, DC

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