Over 70 million adult Americans suffer from chronic pain, which costs the US economy $61 billion a year in lost productivity, not counting medical bills. Left untreated, chronic pain gradually kills its victims while ruining their lives. The only effective way to manage many cases of chronic pain is with opioids, yet fewer than half of all chronic pain sufferers in America get adequate pain relief from their doctors. Why? Physicians fear that if they prescribe Schedule II opioids in accordance with AMA-approved standards of titrated pain management, they will be hounded and criminalized by the DEA.