By Adam Kolber | Journal of Medical Ethics | 2 May 2014

We like to think we own our memories. If we could ever dampen or erase a memory, the decision to do so, it may seem, should be ours and ours alone. On occasion, for example, patients unexpectedly regain consciousness while undergoing major surgery. Many are horrified by the experience and subsequently develop post-traumatic stress disorder. If there were a way to avoid such trauma by blocking or erasing the memory of one’s own surgery, surely patients should ordinarily be given the opportunity to do so. Indeed, intraoperative awareness presents a rare opportunity to erase a memory with limited downside.

But while we should certainly have rights to alter memories,1–3 our freedom of memory has limits. Some memories are simply too valuable to society to allow us the unfettered right to change them. Imagine a patient who regains consciousness during surgery and realises she is being raped by one or more members of her surgical team. If futuristic memory erasure could eliminate her horrifying memories, it could spare her from debilitating post-traumatic stress. But memory erasure might also eliminate the only opportunity to prosecute the offenders.

Read the full article here.

By Howard Fields, MD | Pain Research Forum | May 1, 2014

A Nation in Pain, by Boston Globe health columnist Judy Foreman,2014. Foreman is winner of the Foley Journalist Award from the American Pain Society.

Judy Foreman has written a remarkable book about pain. Although aimed at an educated and curious non-professional readership it contains information and perspective that will be of great value to patients, scientists and clinicians as well as those interested in policy. It is a broad based survey of the ‘problem’ covering its prevalence, psychosocial and economic dimensions and perhaps more impressively, a broad survey of current animal, human and clinical research. Despite the breadth and scholarly analysis reflected in the material, the author’s journalistic style and efficient prose make for easy reading. By artful interview and through her own suffering she has captured the predicament and frustration of patients facing both their own pain and the ignorance and rejection of health care professionals. In contrast, she conveys the scientists’ excitement and enthusiasm about their discoveries, all the while remaining objective and open about the limits of their findings. Her chapter on gender and pain is particularly informative. As with most of her chapters it is amply but not exhaustively referenced, providing a guide to deeper inquiry for the reader. In fact, this is one of the reasons the book is so good; Foreman has mastered the skill of providing sufficient information to give the reader a reasonable level of understanding without the burden of detail typical of a scientific paper. Best of all, the text is spiced with direct quotes from leading experts in the field. This was not only enjoyable for me because I know most the individuals personally but, in addition, it gives the reader confidence that the author’s conclusions have been scrutinized and informed by those in the know. The acknowledgements section reads like a who’s who of pain research. Continue reading »