Patients Rights to Pain Treatment

While no medical provider can guarantee a patient will be free from pain, medical professionals are increasingly including a "patient's right to pain management" as part of their treatment regime. Versions of these rights, including the Pain Patient Bill of Rights and other pain management guidelines, state that patients have a right to have their pain taken seriously and to receive whatever alleviating measures are appropriate for the patient's condition.

Choosing Physicians

• Many providers begin their understanding of a patient's rights to pain management with another long-accepted patient right: the right to choose a physician who will respond to their particular pain issues. The National Pain Foundation's "Pain Patient Bill of Rights" states that "patients have a right to choose and access health care providers who can provide proper, respectful, informed and nondiscriminatory pain management and care" and that "patients have a right to ask for and receive a referral to a pain management specialist."

Receiving Information

• Many medical providers also see the patient's right to receive information about his or her pain condition and the treatment options as part of the patient's overall right to pain management. For example, the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary's information on patient pain management rights includes both a patient's right to receive information from the Infirmary's medical staff about their pain and treatment options, and the right to discuss the information with their medical provider until the patient's questions are answered.

Choosing a Treatment

• According to the National Pain Foundation's Pain Patient Bill of Rights, patients experiencing pain have a right to participate in their own care by making decisions about which treatment options they will pursue and by having multidisciplinary pain-management options available. If a patient is unable to participate in his or her own care, the Pain Patient Bill of Rights states that pain management options should be discussed with the patient's family members or guardians.

Continuing Care

• After an initial pain treatment, patients have the right to receive follow-up care during the same visit, according to the National Pain Foundation. Follow-up care must include reevaluation of the patient's pain and the use of further measures to treat that pain, if necessary.

Records and Billing

• The National Pain Foundation's "Pain Patient Bill of Rights" gives pain patients the right to look at and make copies of the medical records that document their pain treatment. Pain patients also have the right to have their pain-related medical bills and the costs of various pain treatments explained to them.