Table 2.

Pain, politics, and regulation: 1960’s.

Problem	Date	Action	President/party	Other groups	Outcome	Govt branch	National “mood”
Expansion of SSDI to nonservice-related injuries	1960s	Medicare and Medicaid passed	Kennedy and Johnson (D)	AMA remains resistant	Passed	(C)	Civil Rights legislation passed, liberal trend
Pain viewed as multifaceted	1960s	Gate Control Theory of Melzack and Wall	Kennedy and Johnson (D)	Pain experienced differently by different groups—social, cultural, and spiritual impacts vs stereotyping	Gate Control Theory provided an explanation for impact of multiple factors on pain perception	R. Paige awarded compensation for chronic work-related pain with no objective evidence (“if pain is real to patient”) (J)	Stoicism and bearing up viewed as “American” qualities But recognition of disparities in society: African Americans; and workers such as Paige and need to remedy

Abbreviations: C, Congress; D, Democrat; J, Judiciary; R, Republican; S, State.