By Tim Bonfield
Enquirer staff writer

A state task-force report that urges improved care for Ohio residents suffering from chronic pain drew applause from people who have struggled to get such care.

"I suffer from chronic pain, and I can tell you I am not getting the help I need," said Donna DiPaolo, 52, of Colerain Township.

Too many people in Ohio with terminal illnesses and severe chronic pain are not getting proper pain-control treatment, according to a report issued Wednesday by the Ohio Compassionate Care Task Force.

Among the report's conclusions: there aren't enough pain specialists in the state; families aren't getting enough support while caring for relatives in pain; and too many people, including patients and doctors, allow concerns about addiction interfere with using narcotic pain medications.

The report estimates that 931,000 adults and 231,000 children in Ohio suffer from severe chronic pain.

Randy Hertzer, a task-force member and Columbus resident who personally suffers from chronic pain, said too many patients suffer because doctors often are reluctant to prescribe powerful pain medications.

"Living with chronic pain is acceptable," Hertzer said. "Living in chronic pain is not."

Can't take the meds

DiPaolo says she suffers daily pain even after extensive spine surgery.

An attempt to use a medication pump implanted in her abdomen led to an infection. She says she needs a form of pain control that will allow her to keep working - be it acupuncture, water therapy or drugs with milder side effects.

"I can't take the meds they want me to and function a normal life," she said. "If I have to be medicated, then I can't work. So since I am not medicated, I am in pain every day."

The compassionate care task force will continue to meet until March, said Michelle Loparo, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Health.

Proposed reforms

While much of the report urges doctors and medical schools to change their attitudes, the task force supports two proposed legislative reforms:

• To allow people with terminal illnesses to receive a combination of benefits from the state's PASSPORT program for home-care services and Medicaid coverage for hospice care. This proposal, House Bill 327, remains in a House committee.

• To set up an online prescription monitoring system for narcotic pain medications, similar to a program that already exists in Kentucky, where any dispenser of prescriptions - pharmacists, doctors and veterinarians - must report to the state twice a month the amount and types of drugs they are giving out. The proposal in Ohio, House Bill 377, has passed the House but awaits hearings in the state Senate.

A full copy of the report can be found at http://www.ohiopaininitiative.org/resource.html

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E-mail tbonfield@enquirer.com