In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Daniel Buchman discuss chronic pain, affecting over 20% of the population in the US, Canada, and Europe. Chronic pain (persisting pain lasting over three months) includes conditions like arthritis, lower back pain, fibromyalgia, and phantom limb pain, among many others. Daniel highlights the challenges in pain assessment, the role of AI in pain management, and the ethical considerations, including bias in pain reporting. He notes that chronic pain increases suicide risk, and the conversation also touches on the stigma surrounding pain and opioid use.
Key Takeaways:
Pain can come from an identifiable condition, but sometimes doesn't have a clear cause.
Primary pain is the type of pain that is not explained by another disease. Secondary pain is pain that arises because of or is related to an underlying condition - perhaps injury, illness, disease, or other reason.
When we talk about bias in health care providers, we also need to look at the broader societal bias that plays into those biases.
As AI is used more in medicine, we do need to be aware of bias in the data sets that the AI is utilizing to learn and then use to make predictions.
Pain is a warning sign. It is not, in and of itself, bad. It is telling you that something might need to be addressed in your body.
"There isn't a blood test or a brain scan or anything that can determine how much pain somebody's in, or what it's like to experience that pain. This is subjective because it depends on the person, and it depends on a whole host of factors, not just their biology. It depends on their psychology, social factors, cultural factors, and gender is a big part of this as well." — Dr. Daniel Buchman
Episode References:
Buchman, Daniel Z.a,b,c,d. 2025 AI and the ethics of techno-solutionism in pain management. PAIN 166: 469-470. | DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003389
Connect with Dr. Daniel Buchman:
Professional Bio: https://www.camh.ca/en/science-and-research/science-and-research-staff-directory/danielbuchman
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/danielbuchman.bsky.social
X: https://x.com/DanielZBuchman
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=3Yja_7QAAAAJ&hl=en
Connect with Therese:
Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net
Bluesky: @CriticallySpeaking.bsky.social
Instagram: @criticallyspeakingpodcast
Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net
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