Reviews
“Needless Suffering is a remarkable book that has the potential to change the way we talk about pain in America. Dr. Nagel unveils the many unspoken truths about a flawed healthcare system that imprisons chronic pain patients for life. This book should be mandatory reading by health care regulators, lawmakers, and anyone who wants to remove the stigma of the most prevalent medical problem in American: chronic pain.”
—Lynn R. Webster, MD, former president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine and author of The Painful Truth
“This book is a must read because David Nagel remembers why he went to medical school. The U.S. has a broken pain treatment infrastructure that has patients and health care providers in turmoil. Dr. Nagel has a unique understanding of both the problem and the solution. I hope the book is read by physicians, patients and state and federal policymakers because if 100 million pain patients are going to find relief, all of those stakeholders need to be on the same page.”
—Ed Coghlan, editor, National Pain Report
“David Nagel has written a refreshingly honest account of his experience treating his patients’ pain within the larger context of the healthcare system, the legal system, disability and insurance, the regulatory environment and the business of healthcare from his unique perspective as a pain physician. He describes the ethical dilemmas facing doctors when we only have imperfect solutions for pain. He implores us all to recognize chronic pain as a unique illness and a healthcare crisis of considerable scope. David Nagel’s compassion and sincere desire to alleviate human suffering will leave a lasting impression on his readers.”
—Cindy Steinberg, National Director of Policy and Advocacy, US Pain Foundation
David Nagel is the physician all of us would yearn to care for ourselves and our families if we were in unrelenting pain -- smart, compassionate, tenacious and funny. He also happens to be a whale of a storyteller who, by his own admission, has become a social activist. Thank goodness!
Needless Suffering: How We Fail to Manage Chronic Pain is a self-help book for society. From the "get-go", Dr. Nagel's book, grabs the reader with the story of Jane, her son and himself. By talking about the struggles of patients he has served -- Mr. Smith, Ray, Viola and others -- Dr. Nagel affirms the Institute of Medicine’s call for "a cultural transformation in the way pain is perceived, judged and treated."
Nagel is absolutely right -- "pain management (in the US) is a travesty." However, with the body of literature on chronic pain that is emerging, including Needless Suffering: How We Fail to Manage Chronic Pain, and the resulting awareness of the American public, I believe change is inevitable. The status quo is simply no longer acceptable.
−Myra Christopher, Kathleen M. Foley Chair in Pain and Palliative Care at the Center for Practical Bioethics; Principal investigator on the Pain Action Alliance to Implement a National Strategy (PAINS) and Chair of the PAINS Steering Committee; member of Pain Study Committee at the Institutes of Medicine focused on the under-treatment of pain.
“Needless Suffering is a remarkable book that has the potential to change the way we talk about pain in America. Dr. Nagel unveils the many unspoken truths about a flawed healthcare system that imprisons chronic pain patients for life. This book should be mandatory reading by health care regulators, lawmakers, and anyone who wants to remove the stigma of the most prevalent medical problem in American: chronic pain.”
—Lynn R. Webster, MD, former president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine and author of The Painful Truth
“This book is a must read because David Nagel remembers why he went to medical school. The U.S. has a broken pain treatment infrastructure that has patients and health care providers in turmoil. Dr. Nagel has a unique understanding of both the problem and the solution. I hope the book is read by physicians, patients and state and federal policymakers because if 100 million pain patients are going to find relief, all of those stakeholders need to be on the same page.”
—Ed Coghlan, editor, National Pain Report
“David Nagel has written a refreshingly honest account of his experience treating his patients’ pain within the larger context of the healthcare system, the legal system, disability and insurance, the regulatory environment and the business of healthcare from his unique perspective as a pain physician. He describes the ethical dilemmas facing doctors when we only have imperfect solutions for pain. He implores us all to recognize chronic pain as a unique illness and a healthcare crisis of considerable scope. David Nagel’s compassion and sincere desire to alleviate human suffering will leave a lasting impression on his readers.”
—Cindy Steinberg, National Director of Policy and Advocacy, US Pain Foundation
David Nagel is the physician all of us would yearn to care for ourselves and our families if we were in unrelenting pain -- smart, compassionate, tenacious and funny. He also happens to be a whale of a storyteller who, by his own admission, has become a social activist. Thank goodness!
Needless Suffering: How We Fail to Manage Chronic Pain is a self-help book for society. From the "get-go", Dr. Nagel's book, grabs the reader with the story of Jane, her son and himself. By talking about the struggles of patients he has served -- Mr. Smith, Ray, Viola and others -- Dr. Nagel affirms the Institute of Medicine’s call for "a cultural transformation in the way pain is perceived, judged and treated."
Nagel is absolutely right -- "pain management (in the US) is a travesty." However, with the body of literature on chronic pain that is emerging, including Needless Suffering: How We Fail to Manage Chronic Pain, and the resulting awareness of the American public, I believe change is inevitable. The status quo is simply no longer acceptable.
−Myra Christopher, Kathleen M. Foley Chair in Pain and Palliative Care at the Center for Practical Bioethics; Principal investigator on the Pain Action Alliance to Implement a National Strategy (PAINS) and Chair of the PAINS Steering Committee; member of Pain Study Committee at the Institutes of Medicine focused on the under-treatment of pain.