Pain Warriors: A Civil Rights Movement for Our Time

By Pat Anson, PNN Editor

A long-awaited documentary about chronic pain in North America is shining a light on the other side of the opioid crisis – how chronic pain patients and their doctors have been marginalized and persecuted in the name of fighting opioid addiction.

“Pain Warriors” is being released by Gravitas Ventures. It is available for streaming on Vimeo, iTunes and Amazon Prime or on DVD.

The 80-minute film takes an intimate look at the lives of four chronic pain patients and their loved ones, including an 11-year old boy living with cancer pain and a doctor who nearly lost his medical license due to allegations he overprescribed opioids.

Two of the “pain warriors” featured in the documentary commit suicide after losing all hope that their pain will be properly treated.   

“That captures the essence of our film -- invisible, shunned and disbelieved. This is the story of their fight. Pain Warriors is a civil rights movement for our time,” says Tina Petrova, who produced and directed the documentary along with filmmaker Eugene Weis.  

“Doctors have been incarcerated, committed suicide, gone broke standing up for appropriate treatments for intractable pain. Families have lost loved ones due to suicides from chronic pain and medical complications such as spinal leaks. This is no small disease. It steals husbands and wives, sons and daughters.”

Pain Warriors is dedicated to Sherri Little, a California woman who took her life at the age of 53 after a last desperate attempt to get treatment for her fibromyalgia and colitis pain. (See “Sherri’s Story: A Final Plea for Help”). Sherri was a good friend of Petrova, who is well-acquainted with the issues faced by chronic pain patients – because she’s one herself.

“I began pre-interviews for the film around 2014, gathering collections of heartbreaking, compelling stories. A pain patient struggling with her own pain demons donated money to the cause, wanting her story told alongside others, and we began making the film in earnest,” she told PNN.

“Has it been easy? I’d say it’s been a hell of a lot of painstaking work by all involved, including the cast, who bravely offered up their vulnerability and very intimate stories. Has it been worth it? Absolutely.”

You can see a preview of Pain Warriors here:

The release of Pain Warriors was initially delayed due to funding problems, and then because Petrova suffered a severe back injury during physical therapy. She was bedridden and housebound for over a year.

“I’m hopeful that I’m on the mend at long last, and will be able to take the film across North America, once COVID restrictions are lifted, and lead in-person screenings with the people the film was made for -- chronic pain patients and the healthcare professionals that sometimes risk everything fighting for their rights,” says Petrova.

Dr. Mark Ibsen plays a prominent role in the film. The Montana Board of Medicine suspended Ibsen’s medical license in 2016, a decision that was reversed two years later when a judge ruled the board made numerous procedural errors.

Ibsen’s legal battles have not ended. The Board of Medicine has refused to formally close his case, leaving Ibsen in professional limbo. Pharmacists won’t fill his opioid prescriptions and he was forced to close his urgent care clinic in Helena. Now he travels the back roads of Montana writing prescriptions for medical marijuana.

“I’ve been marginalized,” says Ibsen, who plans to sue the Board of Medicine for monetary damages. “Anything the board would say would not completely clear me. I need the judge to say, ‘This is bogus. Stop it. Dismiss the case.’”   

Pain Warriors is featured in PNN’s Suggested Reading section, where you can buy the DVD through Amazon.

Remembering Pain Warrior Sherri Little

By Tina Petrova, Guest Columnist

July 7, 2018 marks the third anniversary of the death of Sherri Little, a California pain patient, warrior, advocate and my friend.

Sherri was a pretty, diminutive woman with sparkling eyes who was full of life, verve and laughter -- until multiple chronic pain conditions claimed her emaciated body and tired spirit at the age of 53.

Sherri committed suicide in a Los Angeles hotel room after a last desperate attempt to get medical treatment for her severe colitis pain (See “Sherri’s Story: A Final Plea for Help”).

I would like to say that insurers, hospitals and medical professionals have evolved in their capacity to diagnose and treat chronic pain and illness since Sherri’s death. Sadly, that is not the case.

Since Sherri’s passing and the slow death of compassion in pain medicine in North America, many others have succumbed to the ravages of chronic pain. Some by failure to be helped, some by their own hand.

When will this madness end? When will doctors stop being persecuted for upholding their Hippocratic Oath by offering patients some small dignity and reduced suffering?

SHERRI LITTLE

When will pain patients gain access to the alternative health modalities that their doctors recommend? When will insurers start to pay for them and governments mandate their coverage?

Pain Warriors

As a longtime pain patient and activist, I was moved to do something for Sherri, myself and others who live in pain. After 3 long years of developing a documentary on chronic pain that was to be called "Pandemic of Denial,” I partnered with award winning filmmaker Eugene Weis.

VISIONARY MEDIA

Together, we have synthesized hundreds of hours of research, production, interviews and footage -- molding our project into a compelling, heartbreaking and status-quo shattering feature film.

The newly renamed documentary “Pain Warriors” is dedicated to Sherri and all those we've lost to pain over the last three years. We are at long last nearing the finish line and anticipate a Fall 2018 release of the film.

Pain Warriors will be distributed by Indie Can Entertainment and we hope it will be available on many platforms of exhibition, including streaming channels, film festivals, cable TV and community screenings.

No one was able to stop Sherri’s tragic ending to the disease of chronic pain. We must now look to the future with commitment, focus and clarity, and renew our ambitions to educate and inform the global community about this seemingly benign illness.  Poorly treated pain and medical neglect are not often discussed in the media, yet they have torn apart many families, shattering lives and communities in their wake.

If your group, organization or support circle would like to sponsor a community screening of Pain Warriors in your city or you simply wish to be notified of future screenings in your area, please email us at: painwarriorsmovie@gmail.com. We will get back to everyone on the screening list by email this fall.

Please visit our website for details on the film. You can also follow us on Facebook by clicking here. And you can learn more about Sherri here.  Help us help you Give Pain A Voice!

Tina Petrova is an award-winning filmmaker and co-founder of Chronic Pain TV and Give Pain A Voice.  Her production company, Visionary Media, is the Executive Producer of Pain Warriors.

The information in this column should not be considered as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and represents the author’s opinions alone. It does not inherently express or reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of Pain News Network.

Pain Warrior: A Tribute to Sherri Little

(Editor’s note: This week marks the first anniversary of the death of Sherri Little, a 53-year old California woman who took her own life, after years of struggle with chronic pain and depression. Suicide is a difficult but important issue to address in the pain community, and our story about Sherri’s final days (“Sherri’s Story: A Final Plea for Help”) touched many readers. Tina Petrova was a friend of Sherri’s and wrote the following tribute to her.)   

By Tina Petrova, Guest Columnist

Sherri L. Little was a stunningly beautiful, diminutive blonde with sparkling, mischievous eyes. We became fast friends on Facebook, united by our common passion of pain patient advocacy.

She initially reached out to me after hearing that I had a film in development on chronic pain, saying, “Do I have a story for you!”

And indeed, she did.

Sherri was one of those rare people who could light up a room upon entering. She possessed charisma in spades and emanated a childlike wonder and joy.

SHERRI LITTLE

During the all too short time I knew Sherri, her key focus was advocating for pain patients, speaking up, and getting involved. Her search for treatments for her own painful conditions (occipital neuralgia, fibromyalgia and complicated IBS) took a back seat to her passion to help others.

I had the pleasure and honor of hosting Sherri in Toronto, Canada in May 2015. She made the long trek from Mexico where she was staying, to New York City to participate in the 2015 Caterpillar Walk for fibromyalgia, travelling onwards to me. 

SHERRI AND TINA PETROVA

I drove her around to my own treating doctors, hoping she could benefit from those who had greatly helped me. We filmed a short interview with her, which is to become a key centerpiece in our upcoming documentary.

It was Sherri’s final wish that we tell her story to the world.

Despite sleep deprived nights and painful days, she took delight in all the small activities I had planned during her stay with me, such as lunching at a vegetarian restaurant.

It surprised me that such small gestures could be so impactful for her, until she explained that her adult relationships thus far had not supported her pained life. She shared with me that she longed for deep, authentic connections.

Sherri was to return to Toronto in September 2015 to continue the interview process. Sadly, this was not to be.  

Sherri was found dead on July 7, 2015, after a July 4th weekend attempt to get medical help at a hospital in Los Angeles. Unable to eat and drink for four weeks, she had taken a solo train trip to L.A. from San Diego, hiring a patient advocate to champion her rights.

Her last ditch hope with faltering health was that she would gain access to the specialists and treatment she so badly needed to live her life with any quality. For reasons her family and I still cannot fathom or piece together, Sherri left the hospital and checked into a hotel room across the street, alone and in pain. We will never know for certain what transpired in those final hours.

Having a previous diagnosis of Clostridium difficile colitis and suffering from severe abdominal pain, she had been unable to keep food down for over a month and was existing solely on raw juices.

Her mom told me she had driven down to San Diego to take her daughter to the hospital on more than one occasion for horrible bowel pain and dehydration. After giving Sherri an IV drip in the ER, they released her home on each occasion.

In honor of Sherri’s courageous battle with chronic pain, we will be dedicating “Pandemic of Denial” to Sherri and her fight for better pain care for our community.

Sherri’s laughter will no longer echo in the halls of life, but I’m sure she’s busy keeping the angels on their toes in heaven with her loving heart and her shining soul of activism.

I can just see her high above us saying, “But you have to DO SOMETHING!”

And with that, we are. Sherri, you are loved and missed dearly.

Tina Petrova is an award winning filmmaker, pain patient and chronic pain activist.

Tina co- founded Give Pain A Voice in 2014 with Bob Schubring, to champion the rights of pain patients everywhere.

“Pandemic of Denial” is currently in production with plans for release in 2017. We have created a website to honor Sherri’s memory, which you can see by clicking here.

The information in this column should not be considered as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and represents the author’s opinions alone. It does not inherently express or reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of Pain News Network.