In the U.S., as well as worldwide, spinal pain is
the #1 cause of disability. 1
In the U.S., we spend $600 billion addressing
The problems:
pain. 20 times the entire budget of the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) goes to
dealing with pain. 2
Spinal pain results in 25% of all opioid scripts
in the U.S. 3
Opioids are killing 175 Americans every day. 4
Americans consume 99% of the world’s
production of hydrocodone. 5
Opioids are ineffective or harmful in dealing
with chronic pain. 6
Opioid users are 40 times more likely
to use heroin. 7
Be a solution-finder.
For some, “legislative activism” has a
self-serving, untoward or sleazy feel to it.
Don’t think of it as self-serving in any way,
think of it as problem solving. It might be
your problem, it might be your patients’
problems, it might be your communities’
problems. The goal remains problem solving.
You are there as part of the solution.
12 | TCLonline.today | Legislative Action 101