I’m Kevin Riggs. I’m a physician who practices in a chronic pain clinic at a VA hospital, and trained in research. I’ve been working with Dr. Kertesz for the past decade, and developed a strong interest in improving healthcare for homeless Veterans, particularly those with chronic pain.

What difference do you hope this work will make to others?

I completed my medical training during the midst of the opioid epidemic. Looking back, I can see where we made some mistakes. Now that we are in the midst of the correction, I think research is important to avoid making more mistakes. I’m hoping that this research will lead to concrete changes in the way we treat patients with pain who are struggling.

What has been the most interesting/surprising/meaningful thing about doing this work, so far?

The stories we’ve been told by survivors really mirror the difficulties that I have witnessed with some of my patients with chronic pain. It’s a really difficult problem to treat, and we need to be pulling out all the stops to find out how to do it better.

What do you think people in our society might need to learn at this time about pain and its care?

Pain can impact all aspects of someone’s life. We all experience acute pain every now that then, so I think people realize how pain can interfere with enjoying life. But I don’t think most people have experience with constant, never ending pain. Even making small improvements for those patients can make a huge difference in their quality of life.  

I’m Jim Elliott. I am an attorney practicing local government law in Georgia; this has been my career for over 40 years. More importantly, I am the brother and brother-in-law of Danny and Gretchen Elliott. My brother, after a 30+ year struggle with pain stemming from an electrical accident, died by suicide after having lost a series of doctors after their arrests and/or license suspensions by the federal government. Sadly, his wife took the same path, having been exhausted by her husband’s long struggle to receive and keep medications he needed. I’m appreciative of the opportunity to participate in this study to honor their memory and hopefully help others in similar situations to avoid their tragic fate. 

I know that individually, it would be impossible for me to garner the attention necessary to expose the overreach of government into medical practices, which causes financial loss to physicians but leaves their patient’s life broken. This study will hopefully provide the opportunity to provide wide-spread exposure of the issue to the public at large and, more importantly, elected officials who have the power to mandate changes. 

During the initial phase of the study, I have had the chance to hear stories similar to my brother’s; I was not surprised that others had suffered similar consequences but am thankful to make connections with loved ones and friends who have endured what our family has. 

As this study proceeds, I simply want the relevant federal agencies to recognize that hard and fast rules and regulations don’t fit every situation. Pain patients are not addicts; they need medications to have some semblance of a normal life. They, and in turn, their physicians, are the victims when bureaucrats create red lines that ignore the fervent needs of many, often with disastrous results. 

Hi, Carla! Tell us about yourself!

 I’m Dr. Carla Stumpf Patton, VP of Suicide Prevention, Intervention, and Postvention at Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors.

What is your professional background or personal connection to this work. Why are you interested in this study? 

By trade, I am a mental health clinician focusing in the areas of suicide, trauma, and bereavement; I am dedicated to this work due to my personal experiences from being a long-term, military suicide loss survivor, which is why I do the work I do. I am interested in this study as it will help identify how effective and safe pain management treatment plans before an emotional or suicide crisis occurs, can contribute to future prevention efforts.

What ideas do you have that might help us think about suicide and how to prevent it? Is there a special resource or place to learn more about these ideas? 

Studies such as this are illuminating the issue of suicide and opening up opportunities for conversations that have historically been surrounded by silence and stigma. For those who have been personally impacted by suicide, this also offers an opportunity for individuals to courageously share their own experiences—or that of their loved ones—where we can learn more as how to reduce suicide risk by improving delivery of care, medical services, and safer treatment options. 

What do you think people in our society might need to learn at this time about pain and its care? 

It is important for society to recognize that suicide is complex and often results from many contributing factors—both physical and psychological. Issues such as chronic pain are among the significant risk factors, especially when individuals coping with debilitating, enduring pain may not see effective solutions.  By proactively addressing the area of effective and safe pain management, it can be a key area to reduce suicide risk, as it offers hopeful, solution-focused strategies that help to either safely manage or mitigate symptoms of pain. 

“The Bucksbaum-Siegler Institute for Clinical Excellence has named Stefan G. Kertesz, MD, MSc as the recipient of the 2025 Bucksbaum-Siegler Clinical Excellence Award, recognizing his extraordinary commitment to clinical excellence and the doctor-patient relationship.”

Read more here.

A note from Principal Investigator, Dr. Stefan Kertesz:

This newsletter is particularly special so I hope you will give it a read and forward/share it far and wide. I have posted a short piece about Cy, who leads our UAB-affiliated recruitment team, along with our shared commitment to continuing recruitment for the CSI:OPIOIDs study, despite the barriers. As I have worked with Cy, I have come to admire her more deeply.

There is a new website to donate to support the university-affiliated research team. https://go.uab.edu/csisupport 

Please enjoy our newsletter, and share it. 

Stefan Kertesz, MD, MSc

Our research team continues its work to learn how best to prevent suicides of Veterans and non-Veterans with pain. People have asked how they can support the work. We answer that with the story of “Cy”, an amazing recruitment leader, in our latest newsletter from the CSI:OPIOIDs study team.

For people who are new to us, we interview people who have lost someone with pain to suicide after medication changes, to learn and then teach the lessons required to prevent the next tragedy. There is compensation for folks we interview. You may enter the eligibility survey here.

To do the work, we draw on the expertise of our university partners, through 2 contracts. Due to important recent events, both contracts are selected for termination.

There are ways to support the recruitment team, led by the amazing Cy. Donations received will not go to our VA team, just to Cy’s team at University of Alabama at Birmingham. Read about it here (and please share)

Please write to us at csiopioids@uabmc.edu with any questions or if you wish to be added to our Newsletter mailing list.

Stefan Kertesz, a physician and addiction expert, says overaggressive cutbacks can harm some chronic pain patients. Read the full interview here

Here’s a very brief video update about the CSI:OPIOIDs study, which aims to understand suicides occurring in chronic pain. A few important points:

• We have changed details to mask identities
• We know the situation some with chronic pain face now seems hopeless. Please know this: many of us on the team are working hard to try make the situation better
• If you are aware of suicide loss survivors, please share word of this study!

For people in crisis, we want to make people aware of the resources we know about:

• In the USA, the 988 Lifeline (text or phone)
• Worldwide, the Reddit r/SuicideWatch “wiki” has a global directory of resources.

Please join us this Tuesday 9/24/24 12 noon EDT at the TAPS Institute for Hope and Healing Webinar: “Suicide Loss Survivor Experiences: Contributing to Suicide Prevention Opportunities”.

Our CSI-OPIOIDs team is honored to co-present with “Operation Deep Dive” from America’s Warrior Partnership on how our research projects parter with suicide loss survivors to advance suicide prevention.

We are both presenting through the good will of an amazing organization: Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) Institute for Hope and Healing, a leader in training and education for bereavement professionals, bereaved individuals, and grieving military, veteran and civilian families.

It’s public. Register to join online here!