As Chrysler and GM seek the protection of bankruptcy, a number of people are being left out in the cold.  While the autoworkers’ union was consulted and, to a degree accommodated, many jobs are being cut as factories close.  The damage from such closures trickles down to parts manufacturers and many others whose livelihoods depend upon money spent by newly displaced workers.  Dealerships, some of whom were profitable, are having their doors closed.  Some of them have an inventory of vehicles with no way of selling them to their customers.  The pain is being spread far and wide, with the hope that the New Chrysler and the New GM will come back leaner, meaner and more prepared to compete with their foreign competitors.

One group of people whose plight is just being heard are the vehicle owners who were injured, or the families of those who were killed, due to defects in Chrysler and GM automobiles.  It appears the bankruptcy courts will not require the new companies to accept responsibility for these claims.  Those who have pending claims will be left at the rear of a long line of creditors seeking a piece of companies stripped of their assets.  In other words, unless the government acts to protect these victims, they will likely find themselves without a remedy.

When product liability claims were originally recognized (by courts or legislatures), the law provided a “strict liability” remedy against any person or company involved in the design, manufacture, marketing or sale of a product.  Over the past 20 years, that consumer-friendly remedy has been substantially watered down to make the cases much more difficult and expensive to win.  Additionally, many states, including Texas, have laws that protect “innocent retailers.”  Without a remedy against the manufacturer, many consumers harmed by defective products have no remedy at all.

Consumer advocacy groups are sounding off on the issue.  Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, said, “Either the bankruptcy system has to take care of victims or the Obama administration needs to come up with a victim’s fund much as we did in 9/11.”

As you hear the pundits toss this issue around and try to make it about “trial lawyers,” remember the people whose interests are really at stake are the victims.  These are not people who were part of “what went wrong” with the American automotive industry.  They are people who continued to “buy American” and support GM and Chrysler while many of their neighbors bought Toyotas, Hondas or Hyundais.  The federal government has indicated it will guarantee the warranties on vehicles sold by the “old Chrysler” and “old GM.”  Shouldn’t our government, in its grand restructuring plans for the automotive industry, also take care of those people who invested in these vehicles and suffered actual physical injury when one of them was defective?

Pain is a universal phenomenon – everyone has experienced pain. Some have higher “pain thresholds” than others, which either means it takes more to make them hurt, or to admit they are hurting. We have been taught that pain is bad, except when it is good. When we work out, we are told, “No pain, no gain!” or “Feel the burn!” or “Work through the pain!” Nonsense, all of it.

No one wants to be in pain. We structure our lives to avoid pain. We buy mattresses so we can sleep without it, shoes so we can walk without it, protective equipment so we can work without it, and on and on.

Yet, pain is not always bad. Pain is the body’s way of telling you something is wrong. Without pain, we would injure ourselves and not realize it. People with a rare condition known as “Congenital Insensitivity to Pain” or CIPA (also called “Congenital Analgia”) feel no pain. Ever. You can read about a young girl who struggles with this disease at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/915341/people_who_cant_feel_pain.html.

According to the article, “This disease is incredibly rare and only 35 United States citizens have CIPA. Unfortunately, many people with CIPA don’t live to see the age of 25…Not being able to feel pain is incredibly dangerous, especially for children. You need pain to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do. You need pain to tell you when to move away from something because it is causing you harm.”

Pain is a common experience for most of my clients. Physical injuries are painful. They are also disabling, but usually, the disability is a byproduct of the pain. It is hard to sit, stand, walk, climb, squat, bend, or even sit at a desk and operate a computer if you are in pain.

Most of us experience only transient or acute pain. We stub our toes, get paper cuts or bump our heads, and it hurts. But the pain goes away after a short time. Even a broken arm will heal in six weeks or so, most of the time. We take pain pills when we need them, either prescription medicine or Tylenol, Advil or one of the other over-the-counter medications.

People who suffer from chronic pain lead totally different lives, defined and limited by their suffering. I have known hundreds of people with chronic spinal (neck or back) injuries. They cannot sleep comfortably. They wake up in pain. Pain grips them when they get dressed, take a shower or fix their hair. Driving, or any other form of sitting for an extended period of time, is excruciating. Exercise is often impossible. Work that requires physical effort is out of the question, and even desk jobs that require concentration are difficult, all because of the pain. People in pain cannot enjoy playing with their children or grandchildren. They cannot pick them up, throw a ball with them, or get down on the floor and play with their toys. Chronic pain is a constant companion, and it grinds people down and saps their souls.

People try virtually anything to escape the tyranny of chronic pain. Most of them take medication. Some of them take a lot of medication. Many, many people – including people you know – take as much pain medication as they are allowed. Some take more than they should. We are learning that pop star Michael Jackson may have died due to excessive use of pain medication. Sports hero Brett Favre endured and overcame a Vicodin addiction. The stories of pain medicine abuse are endless.

I have had clients whose loved ones died from overdoses of pain medication following multiple back surgeries by a now-defrocked orthopedic surgeon who was notorious for repeatedly operating on his victims, rendering them crippled with pain, and then prescribing them huge amounts of pain medicine. I met this man once. I had one client I could not talk out of seeing him, and when I took his deposition, he was the essence of the silver-tongued devil. I have heard how he promised patients the sweet relief of curing their pain, only to plunge them further into the abyss of chronic misery. I still get the creeps thinking about this creep.

A few days ago, an FDA committee announced it was recommending the medications Vicodin and Percocet be taken off the market. The reason was not the risk of addiction. It was the acetaminophen. That’s right. Tylenol. It turns out acetaminophen is toxic to the liver, and too many people are destroying their livers by taking medications that contain it. This same committee recommended removing Extra-Strength (500mg) Tylenol from the market. They must figure that people will not realize three regular strength (325mg) pills yield roughly the same amount of acetaminophen as their big brothers.

This is tragic news. Remember the commercials telling us how safe Tylenol was, and how doctors and hospitals use it? It turns out we all may need to look elsewhere for relief.

But don’t count on chronic pain sufferers to go along with this plan. Liver damage may take years. They need relief now, and they will do whatever they can to find it.

There is a dispute in the medical community about whether high dose pain relievers (such as morphine) can be safely given to people with intractable chronic pain. The “pro” camp says people can be returned to normal lives with sufficient amounts of pain medication. The “anti” groups accuses the “pro” doctors of creating drug addicts. There are advances in delivery systems for pain medication, including implanted spinal catheters. Many people are hard at work trying to solve the chronic pain puzzle.

In this season of freedom, the most we can do for people imprisoned by pain is to understand them, and to recognize their struggle.  They are not drug abusers; they are pain-abused. If all we do is offer a word of encouragement, or help with a task that seems easy to us but is impossible for them, we may lighten their burden. If you ever serve on a jury, do not look unkindly upon plaintiffs who seek compensation for pain. Their plight is genuine, and the remedy offered in a lawsuit is at most a gesture, and a recognition that the pain they carry is a loss that is real. Until science comes up with a solution that offers freedom from pain, society – and that includes all of us – must treat victims of chronic pain with compassion.