Pain Warriors (2019)

• 72%
• 2019
• Documentary
• Tina Petrova
• Eugene Weis

"Pain Warriors" a new film by Visionary Media Inc. examines with unflinching truth "the forgotten ones" in the war on drugs. Long time pain patients denied life - giving medications by "one - size fits - all governmental policies," can be driven to suicide, while some compassionate doctors that treat them have been threatened with loss of license and even incarceration. Are the human rights of pain patients and pain doctors being sacrificed for politically expedient policies ? Would we take away someones insulin, beta blockers or blood thinners - because a small percentile of the population found a way to monetize those drugs and get high off them ? While the current Opioid crisis is an important and pressing issue that needs to be faced head on, equally important but under -represented in the media, are the lives of patients who build their lives around managing life long pain with no cure in sight. Intractable pain does not discriminate: young or old, black or white, rich or poor, it strikes when least expected. "They" could be any one of "us" - in a flash. We are, all of us, only one car accident , one surgery or one degenerative condition away from a challenging life lived in chronic pain. Eugene and Tina hope to bring a balanced view to this emerging issue, with Chronic Pain exploding in numbers in North America, and beyond. Recent surveys reveal that 7 million Canadians and another 113 million Americans live with a lifelong, debilitating pain condition, at a cost of some $634 Billion annually in the USA alone. This is no small disease - there is no small answer. In making this film, we hope to illuminate the dark corners of this growing health crisis and encourage positive dialogue towards implementing solutions.