Dear Mr. McCain

I am one of many chronic pain patients. I have been managed on opioid medications for over 10 years, with major improvement to my function and quality of life due to opiates. I still have continuous pain with some relief. Without opioids I would be totally disabled, and the pain would be unbearable. Nothing else has worked for me; and my doctors have tried everything. ( surgeries, injections, nerve blocks, neurostimulators, etc). I gladly submit to monthly drug testing. I am a legitimate chronic pain patient with medical documentation.
I live in daily fear that my doctor will be forced out of pain management practice by the arbitrary and ill-founded policies of our government and the CDC, Patients like me are committing suicide in increasing numbers because of denial of effective medical care.
PLEASE DO NOT MAKE ME ONE OF THEM!
If the US government is to deal with the opioid epidemic, they first must realize that managed prescription pain patients didn't cause the opioid problem. Opiates allow me to function and live my life.Torturing us by denial of care will only make the mess worse. What do you think will happen when we must go into the streets to get pain relief?
I AM NOT AN ADDICT, even if I must depend on opioids just to live with my severe pain. The most reliable predictors for addiction are status as an adolescent (an age when few people are treated for pain), a history of family trauma, or a period of prolonged unemployment. These are social problems, not medical ones.
Please take action to require withdrawal of the March 2016 CDC guidelines for prescription of opioids. The guidelines are biased, scientifically invalid, and actively dangerous to patients and as public policy.

Sincerely,
Rebecca Artus-Scheifla
San Tan Valley, Arizona