“Don’t Punish Pain” Rally

The “Don’t Punish Pain” Rally to support a bill to provide access to medicine for those suffering from chronic pain will be held on Thursday, March 19, 2020 in the Rotunda of the Rhode Island State House, from 2:30 to 4pm.

Claudia Merandi, advocate for people with chronic pain, and founder of the nationwide ‘Don’t Punish Pain Rally’ along with others, who testified before the RI General Assembly on Wednesday, Feb. 12^th to urge passage of a bill to enable Rhode Islanders suffering from chronic pain access to the medicine (they are often denied) needed to improve their quality of life, says the bill has now been voted out of committee.

Having been before the RI House of Representatives Health Education and Welfare Committee, HR 7398 would allow doctors to prescribe medicines for “managing pain associated with a cancer diagnosis, palliative or nursing home care, intractable or chronic intractable pain or other conditions allowed by the Department of Health,” without regard to the 2016 CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain.

“While there is no doubt about the severity of the opioid epidemic in our country, efforts to curtail it have at the same time negatively affected the quality of life of thousands of chronic pain sufferers in our state who are being denied access to medicine by healthcare professionals fearful of running afoul of the law,” said Claudia Merandi. “Chronic pain sufferers are usually older people who have taken their opioids responsibly, have stored them correctly and have exhausted all other alternative options available, including medical marijuana. This measure will provide relief to the forgotten victims of the opioid crisis.”

This bill, when first introduced in 2019, was the first in the country to address this issue. It passed the Rhode Island House last year but did not make it out of committee in the Senate. Similar legislation is currently pending in New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Washington State.

This bill is sponsored by Rep. Gregg Amore, Rep. Joe Serodio and Rep. Katherine Kazarian all of East Providence; Rep. Christopher Blazejewski of Providence and Rep. William O’Brien of North Providence. The bill is called “Claudia’s Bill” on behalf of the staunch advocacy work of Claudia Merandi.