Two of the projects in Saint John that will receive grant money from the Chesley Research Fund will study how to best manage pain after operations. Dr. Donald Lalonde and Dr. Geoff Cook will study whether pain can be managed as well with painkillers after carpal tunnel surgery as it can with opiates. Dr. Lalonde says in Saint John after such surgery, patients are receiving Advil and Tylenol with great success but the majority of doctors elsewhere are prescribing opiates to deal with the pain.
Dr. Lalonde believes narcotics are being prescribed unnecessarily and it has become a huge problem. He calls it a doctor induced problem and tells CHSJ News the abuse of narcotics that are prescribed for pain kills more people each year than from accidents and suicides combined.
The other projects receiving grant money will determine the effect of coping with pain after someone undergoes spinal surgery and the impact of an anti-cancer drug on the heart.
