DYING IN PAIN. After a very minor sinus surgery last spring, I was surprised to be sent home with a giant bottle of Tylenol with codeine, much more than I would need for the estimated 72-hour recovery period. After reading this important article in today's New York Times, I wish I could donate the remainder. Over 6 million cancer and AIDS victims worldwide do not receive pain treatment, even in the final stages of their illnesses. Six nations -- the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, France, and Germany -- consume 79 percent of the world's morphine. In addition to cost, the culprit, according to the Times, is a larger focus on preventing addiction in developing world countries than on treating disease. In Sierra Leone, for example, only doctors or pharmacists can legally handle morphine, but there is only one doctor per 54,000 people. Narcotics are also feared because rebel armies used them to condition child soldiers. Even if morphine were available, doctors in Sierra Leone say they would not treat babies and children with the drug, although this is a common practice in the United States. A toddler with third-degree burns and an 8-month old with severe meningitis suffer without relief. Read the whole piece. --Dana Goldstein
