What was Dan Rather thinking with this article. I thought he learned his lesson at CBS but apparently he is still producing opinion pieces based on a significant lack of facts. His comment of “Pill Mills” run by unsupervised Nurse Practitioners and Physicians Assistants. I sure got the implication that he considered both APN’s and PA’s to be 1) unqualified and 2) unethical providers of health care. Both of these assertions have been demonstrated by many research programs to be utterly false.
I agree with Watchdog that Dan’s entire article is beneath the dignity of someone with his experience. Pain management is a very complex process and despite the opportunities for diversion it is a very important part of providing patients with a positive quality of life not available by any other method.
This bit of unsubstantiated gobbledygook (I will not pretend it is journalism) requires a substantial investigation, proper documentation of all aspects of the question and an apology for the blanket slamming of pain management providers. Comment on those violating good practice and ethics while praising the positive impact on the lives of people in pain.
