Chronic pain profoundly affects quality of life.

if you are poor, if you are uneducated, you are more likely to become ill.

I have long encouraged a more ambitious emphasis on pain research at the National Institutes of Health.

This report was authorized by bipartisan legislation entitled the National Pain Care Policy Act which I co-authored.

More still needs to be done at NIH and across the Federal Government to address the unanswered questions surrounding diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of chronic pain.

We implore, in Christy's memory and for all those who have been lost too early to these conditions, that today's hearing mark the beginning of serious action to address and curb the personal, family, community, State and national toll exacted by conditions marked by chronic pain.

Thank you. Dr. Pizzo and Dr. Maixner, you discussed doctor shopping; I know Dr. Maixner has.

Anyone who has ever had a serious injury or condition knows how difficult managing pain can be.

Our work centered on simple things like making pain a fifth vital sign, recorded by the medical establishment.

Chronic pain is a significant public health challenge that has yet to receive adequate attention.

I would like to thank Senators Harkin and Enzi for convening today's hearing on such an important issue affecting millions of American patients and caregivers.

Which is why some of us, among other things, are trying to build community health centers all over the country.

For over 100 million Americans affected by chronic pain, the challenge of dealing with pain is ever-present in their lives.

Research has played a crucial role in our understanding of pain--both in how it can be useful to warn of damage to our bodies, but also how it can be harmful and how we can attempt to mitigate it.

The costs that come with chronic pain are enormous, and they are not just health care costs measured in dollars. They are also human costs measured in quality of life.