Take Action for Chronic Pain Patients

Millions of chronic pain patients are being forced off medications that allow them to function, work, and participate in daily life. Pharmacies are refusing to fill legitimate prescriptions. Insurance companies are imposing arbitrary dose limits. Patients are being abandoned by providers afraid of regulatory scrutiny. We call on Congress to pass legislation protecting patients with legitimate chronic pain conditions from being denied access to prescribed medications. Treatment decisions must remain between patients and their doctors — not dictated by pharmacies, insurers, or regulators acting on outdated guidelines.

Chronic pain affects over 50 million Americans, yet receives a fraction of the research funding allocated to conditions with similar prevalence. The NIH spends approximately $2 per patient on chronic pain research annually, compared to $44 per patient for cancer and $20 per patient for diabetes. We demand that Congress increase NIH funding for chronic pain research to $10 per patient annually. This investment would accelerate the development of non-addictive pain treatments, improve diagnostic tools, and advance our understanding of pain mechanisms. Patients deserve better options than what currently exists.

Despite protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act, chronic pain patients routinely face discrimination in hiring, promotion, and workplace accommodation. Employers frequently deny reasonable accommodations, question the legitimacy of chronic pain conditions, and create hostile environments that force patients out of the workforce. We petition the EEOC to issue stronger enforcement guidance specifically addressing chronic pain discrimination, create a fast-track complaint process for accommodation denials, and increase penalties for employers who engage in disability discrimination against chronic pain patients.