March 10, 2006
Inside
1
“The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but has no vision.”
■ Mental Health— p. 6 ■ Pain Patients Suffer Silently— p. 9 ■ No Place Like Home— p. 11
— Helen Keller
Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Mpls. MN Permit No. 4766
Volume 18, Number 3
Minnesota’s Disability
Community Newspaper
Pumped Up In Florida I
March 10, 2006
by Herb Drill
f you wish to be sarcastic, you could say Richard Paey is “pumped up”— not voluntarily and certainly not painlessly. He’s the “Prisoner to Pain” depicted on a January telecast by correspondent Morley Safer on CBS’ 60 Minutes. Justly or unjustly, Paey’s plight touches all of us who are disabled and have consistent, perhaps chronic pain.
The horror for this lawyer and 47-year-old father of three began in 1985 in a car crash near Philadelphia. A failed operation left him with metal screws in his spine and unrelenting pain. Later, he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Paey says doctors could prescribe painkillers, which worked only briefly. “I developed a tolerance,” he says, “so I needed larger doses to relieve the pain—to be a father, a husband, [in] the community.”
To wit: Paey, in a wheelchair, has a spinal cord injury and is confined to maximum security Tomoka Hills Prison near Daytona Beach for alleged drug trafficking. Siobhan Reynolds, executive director of the Pain Relief Network in New York, which is working with the Paey family for Richard’s release, told Access Press: “He was transferred several months ago from a hospital-type situation at Zephyr Falls to a facility closer to his home.”
2006 Election Is Important by Danielle Engle
T
his is an important legislative year for Minnesota voters. In addition to selecting candidates for state and federal offices, current activities at home and abroad are challenging many citizens to question the concept of “social contract.” What is a social contract? How is it defined by the democratic principles reviewed, debated and outlined by the original framers of the Constitution of the U.S.A.? How and why did the Bill of Rights come into being? Equally important, what are the social rights and responsibilities of, and between, citizens and the branches of government? Jean-Jacques Rousseau theorized, “The heart of the idea of the social contract may be stated simply: Each of us places his person and authority under the supreme direction of the general will, and the group receives each individual as an indivisible part of the whole...” http://en.wiki pedia.org. Going further, John Locke “argued a government could only be legitimate if it received the consent of the governed and protected the natural rights of life, liberty, and es-
tate. If such consent was not achieved, Locke argued in favour of a right of rebellion.” http://en.wikipedia.org. The contract is then renegotiated through methods such as elections and legislature. In the U.S.A. this process occurs throughout all levels of government—city charters, state constitutions, bills and legislature, federal bills, legislation and ultimately, the Constitution of the United States of America. Upon signing the Constitution of the U.S.A. on July 4, 1776, the first three articles Congress (legislative), the presidency (executive) and the judiciary (judicial) defined the three branches of government (www.constitutioncenter.org). These separate but interdependent branches of government were established to ensure a separation of powers and a system of checks and balances. On March 4, 1789, the Bill of Rights was signed. The opening paragraph reads: “The Conventions of a number of States having, at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers,
that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best insure the beneficent ends of its institution…” Once ratified, the Bill of Rights which included Articles 1-12, became part of the Constitution. At this point in history, voters may find the original documents helpful in determining their dialogue with current office holders as well as candidates for the pending 2006 election. Challenges President Bush’s proposed $2.77 trillion budget proposal includes cuts in domestic programs that impact individuals with disabilities and their families. As the population ages, the percentage of people with disabilities will also increase. With the continuing war in Iraq, there is also an increase in the number of soldiers with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and other disabilities. Perhaps the biggest challenge before the disability community is the commitment to active involvement in the electoral process. Beginning with the precinct caucuses on
March 7, the process will continue through the November election. For each right and liberty secured through the Americans with Disabilities Act, there is an equal responsibility to exercise and protect the same. Consider Chuck Campbell’s article, “Voting Devices Tested” in the January 10, 2006 issue of Access Press. By becoming involved in the legislative debates, issues, candidate selection process, and other election activities, individuals with disabilities create a presence. This presence is a declaration of being viable voters and citizens who are actively utilizing and exercising accessibility to the legislative and electoral process. Furthermore, these individuals are fulfilling the obligations and responsibilities of the social contract. Issues In the January 2006 State of the Union Address (www. whitehouse.gov/stateofthe union/2006), President Bush said, “Keeping America competitive requires affordable health care. Our government has a responsibility to provide healthcare for the poor and the elderly, and we are Election - cont. on p. 15
The November Coalition (TNC) activist group contends Paey suffers “intractable pain [from] Multiple Sclerosis and failed spine surgery. He is serving 25 years for `illegal prescriptions.’ According to the prosecutor, the prescriptions were illegal because they were written or issued six weeks after Richard’s last medical exam. It was still drug trafficking, the jury was told.” TNC charges that Paey was “moved in shackles to another Florida prison without proper medical care.” Reynolds says the current facility has “no wheelchair access.” Paey isn’t alone. ScienceDaily reported neuropathic pain generally responds poorly to standard treatment and worsens, causing permanent disability in some people. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke—under the National Institutes of Health—says acute pain is normally triggered in the nervous system to “alert you to possible injury. Chronic pain is different. Pain signals keep firing for weeks, months, years. Some people suffer chronic pain in the absence of past injury or evidence of body damage.” Meanwhile, Minneapolisbased Medtronic Inc. plays a role as a maker of implantable biomedical devices—defibrillators and pacemakers. Among its subsidiaries, Medtronic Sofamor Danek makes spinal implant devices and Medtronic Neurological manufactures drug delivery systems. Medtronic states: “Many people suffer chronic pain because they’re unaware of treatment options. Others have fears which prevent them from talking about pain, which creates barriers to adequate relief. Chronic pain is a major public health issue that results in 40 million doctor visits, 515 million lost workdays, and $100 billion in medical
expenses each year. [It] can lead to difficulty holding a job, low self-esteem, strained relationships, and depression.” Reynolds contends Medtronic doesn’t disclose its vested interest in selling expensive pain pumps. On 60 Minutes’ Safer reported, “[U.S.] doctors tend to under-prescribe painkillers due to their addictive nature and fear of attracting authorities’ attention. Patients are often under suspicion when they try to alleviate unrelenting pain.” Without constant medication, Paey says he is in “excruciating pain that, over time, will literally drive you to suicide,” which he says he tried twice. Paey’s physician wife, Linda, adds: “We were fearful of addiction. He was afraid to take too many pills.” When the Paeys moved to Florida, getting drugs was the problem. “I was in that medical nightmare zone where you’ve gone through all the treatments, and nothing works. What does work, no one wants to prescribe because it attracts attention.” Paey’s New Jersey doctor, Stephen Nurkiewicz, agreed to mail and fax prescriptions, even left some prescriptions undated, Safer reported. Convinced Paey might have been re-selling drugs, local police watched him. After two months, “They had guns and ski masks and five or six people ran into the house and half of them took the kids and my mother-in-law; the other one grabbed me,” says Linda Paey. “Rich kept saying, ‘please, call my doctor.’ They said they had.” To the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) component of the U.S. Dept. of Justice, Reynolds says Dr. Nurkiewicz admitted mailing Paey undated prescriptions and, when pharmacists called, Pumped - cont. on p. 15