Abstract
Intractable pain is one of the greatest problems facing the cancer patient today. Legally-prescribed analgesics in this country frequently do not alleviate the pain that is associated with terminal cancer. Medical personnel in this country frequently accept excruciating pain as a “natural” accompaniment of illness. The National Committee on the Treatment of Intractable Pain has recently petitioned Congress to move heroin into Schedule II, per the Comprehensive Drug Act. This would permit heroin to be used to treat pain in accordance with very careful governmental controls. Heroin, when used frequently and in small dosages, helps patients to reduce or eliminate pain, demand less pain relief, and be conscious of their surroundings rather than being sedated into oblivion. British experience suggests that heroin, when injected, provides for far greater pain relief than does morphine.
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