Reynolds Pain Relief Proclamation Says Try Chiropractic

Des Moines, Iowa — With opioid use becoming what some are calling an epidemic, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds is encouraging Iowans to try something else to manage their pain.

The governor this week signed a proclamation proclaiming this month “Drug-Free Pain Management Month.”

In the proclamation, she states, “prescription opioid use and abuse leading to addiction and catastrophic outcomes has become a national crisis.”

It says that the leading cause of injury death in the United States is drug overdose, and a majority of the deaths from drug overdose involved an opioid. It goes on to say that from 1999 to 2014, more than 165,000 people — three times the U.S. military deaths during the twenty years of the Vietnam War — have died in the U.S. from overdoses related to prescription opioids.

The proclamation also says that the newest estimate on the cost of opioid abuse to U.S. employers is estimated at $18 billion in sick days, lost productivity and medical expenses.

Reynolds doesn’t deny that pain is a serious problem. The proclamation says that over 100 million people suffer with chronic pain and an estimated 75 to 85 percent of all Americans will experience some form of back pain during their lifetime.

The proclamation suggests chiropractic care instead. It says that doctors of chiropractic are educated and trained to effectively address spinal and skeletal pain with non-surgical, non-drug management. And that chiropractic care is “the primary first-line, non-pharmacologic approach to safely and effectively relieve acute, subacute and chronic pain.”

Photo caption: Dr. Lauri Wondra, Dr. Joe O’Tool, Dr. Wes Nyberg, Dr. Michael Welch, Governor Kim Reynolds, Molly Lopez – ICS Executive Director, Dr. Dow Bates, Dr. Chris LoRang, Matt Fitzgerald – ICS Lobbyist

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