Stefan Franzen

Z’s Odyssey is a personal story of the struggle to find relief for intractable pain in a medical, legal, and political climate that restricts opioid doses that were once the standard of care.

Z’s Odyssey spans the watershed year of 2016 when the Centers for Disease Control invited the members of an anti-opioid lobby to develop the pain guideline for the first time in near secrecy, and have since been opposed by professional organizations representing half a million doctors. State governments quickly implemented them as new laws, which have had a draconian impact on opioid prescribing. How can a patient navigate such a stormy sea when the powerful forces in the government have their own agendas? Politicians aim to placate angry constituents who blame the doctors and even their patients for the crisis. The states and municipalities have the agenda of filing lawsuits against every type of opioid corporation, professional organization, consultancy, and the leaders of the pain medical community personally.

The Drug Enforcement Administration Diversion Control Division obtains half its budget from asset seizures from any doctor or pharmacy they target for allegations of murder, manslaughter, drug trafficking, or Medicaid fraud. The states stand to gain hundreds of billions by some estimates, although little of this money is likely to ever be used to help people with opioid use disorder. The anti-opioid lobby has already made personal fortunes for its founders, who have acted as high-paid consultants for the government and law firms and expert witnesses in court. Pain patients have been lost in the struggle of these powerful forces. Patient Z survived by researching and studying many internet programs by doctors and pain patient advocates to learn about the situation. His illness was so severe that even the pain clinics found it challenging to force him to taper down to the limit. Ultimately, when he was nearly there and his life had become unbearable, he sought treatment at a pain research institute and clinic. He was prescribed buprenorphine, a pain medication that is widely misunderstood. It is my hope that Patient Z’s experience will inspire pain patients and their doctors to explore new directions. It appears that the current repressive policies will take years to undo. In the meantime, Z’s Odyssey can serve as a roadmap for others who feel the medical system has left them with nowhere to turn.