Motion for chronic pain to be identified as medical condition
- 21.06.2016
- LesleyHerbertson
- Clinical-negligence, Opinion, Clinical-negligence, Opinion
It has been reported by the Royal College of Anaesthetists that at least 10 MPs have signed up to an Early Day Motion that chronic pain be identified as a condition in its own right.
It is noted in the motion that the prevalence of chronic pain varies according to precisely how it is defined and identified but that, in reality, it is roughly equivalent to the prevalence of heart disease, diabetes, major depression and other severe long-term illnesses.
It is perhaps surprising that chronic pain is not as yet recognised as a condition in its own right given the impact it has on the lives of its victims. The overall quality of life in the presence of chronic pain is shown to very low and all dimensions of health, including physical, psychological and social are severely reduced.
At PotterReesDolan we have dealt with many cases where our client is suffering with long-term pain as a result of an injury caused through negligence.
For many years, the fact that it was sometimes hard to point to an obvious physical injury which could be causing the pain made it difficult to ensure that the individual affected was properly compensated for their pain and suffering.
However, these days there is a lot more known about chronic pain syndromes to include fibromyalgia and the Defendants and courts are more willing to accept expert evidence from pain specialists in relation to the same such that very good outcomes can be achieved.
For example, please see the case of Tina, a client of mine who developed chronic pain syndrome after spinal surgery.