<i>In Pain</i>: A Bioethicist's Personal Struggle with Opioids

Bioethicist Travis Rieder discusses his eloquent and riveting memoir of opioid dependence and withdrawal--a harrowing personal reckoning. He issues a clarion call for change not only for government but medicine itself revealing the lack of crucial resources and structures to handle this insidious nationwide epidemic. <i>In Pain</i> is not only a gripping personal account of dependence but also a groundbreaking exploration of the intractable causes of America's opioid problem and their implications for resolving the crisis. Rieder makes clear that the opioid crisis exists against a backdrop of real debilitating pain--and that anyone can fall victim to this epidemic. <i>Travis Rieder's gripping</i> In Pain <i>illuminates just how unprepared doctors are to treat pain while offering a multi-faceted examination of the raw sadness fatalism and misery experienced by opioid users who unwittingly find themselves "dopesick " or in painful withdrawal. This book will engender empathy not just for patients like Rieder who find themselves trapped in a byzantine system that too often abandons them but also for the 2.6 million Americans suffering from opioid use disorder.</i> In Pain <i>is a call for nuance and understanding full of clear-eyed suggestions for doctors struggling to weigh the risks of addiction with treating pain as well as a guidebook for any one of us who might yet end up in their care.</i> -- Beth Macy author of <i>Dopesick</i> Books available for purchase and signing. Travis Rieder PhD is the Assistant Director for Education Initiatives Director of the Master of Bioethics degree program and Research Scholar at the Berman Institute of Bioethics. He is also a Faculty Affiliate at the Center for Public Health Advocacy within the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. <b>Overdose Response Training</b> Overdose response training available prior to Rieder's talk from 4 - 6:45 pm. Drop in to the Miller Branch lobby to learn how to respond to an opioid overdose and how to administer naloxone. Learn about legal protections for those who provide aid and about access to opioid response resources in Howard County. In partnership with Howard County Fire and Rescue Department and Howard County Health Department.