Amanda Siebe vs Oregon Health Evidence Review Committee 8.11.16

Check out Amanda Siebe​ (CEO of Disabled Americans for Change) go toe to toe with the Oregon Health Evidence Review Committee on opiate prescribing!!



#PatientsNotAddicts

#PatientsNotAddictsOregon

#Activism

#PatientsNotAddicts: Fight for Florida!!

#FightForFlorida!!

We are going to make those with chronic pain and rare diseases a protected class of citizen and not bound by the regulations that restrict opiate access and protect the doctors that treat us!! 

We will fight!

We will win!

We are #PatientsNotAddicts!

State Leader On Boarding Video

This video was used to welcome those PNA members who were looking to do more for the movement and took it upon themselves to represent their home state. State leaders are responsible for relaying information back to members in their state in regard to new laws, new legislative proposals, petitions, events and meet ups. Their contribution allows PNA to grow and for members to create their own experience within the movement.

The Picture That Started It All

Right now it's been just over two month since I first posted this picture, and I can't believe how far we've come. It's amazing. What started out as one picture hast become 325, and we've grown beyond just me. Now there are 3900 of us.

But back to the first day.

Posting it was basically announcing to the world, who already thought that everyone who takes opiates was a drug addict, that I do in fact take opiates. It was like standing in front of all my friend, family, loved ones, and everyone else I've ever met and, a lot of people I hadn't, and announcing the world the one thing I'm most self conscious about.

But this was something that needed to be said.

The idea that I can take opiates and not become addicted is a foreign concept in this country right now. Even to main stream media, we are painted as 'villains', and 'criminals', and 'junkies'; hardly ever do you hear the story from the chronic pain point of view, and with the fast approaching, extremely ridiculous CDC guidelines the chronic pain community needed to come together and fight back. So I took the picture and shared it to all the chronic pain groups I was a member of with a plea for others to make their own pictures and share their stories.

In the first 24 hours we had ten pictures.

After that it spread like wildfire.

For the first time, it felt like, the stigma was being addressed and people had the opportunity to tell their stories knowing that others were having the same struggles. What started with a picture, within a week, became a platform.  And the platform gave birth to the movement.

Patients Not Addicts