The pain center/clinic is in the stage of transition. It has come a long way since chronic pain was a nonexistent entity and patients with difficult pain problems did not receive well-deserved attention or were lost in the busy practices of vari ous specialty clinics. Thirty-five years ahead of the rest of us, John]. Bonica was the first physician who had a clear vision of a pain center's potential. Twenty years later, in response to loud public demands for relief of chronic pain, this idea was put into practice by a number of others on a somewhat larger scale. A team of specialists from...

The pain center/clinic is in the stage of transition. It has come a long way since chronic pain was a nonexistent entity and patients with difficult pain problems did not receive well-deserved attention or were lost in the busy practices of vari ous specialty clinics. Thirty-five years ahead of the rest of us, John]. Bonica was the first physician who had a clear vision of a pain center's potential. Twenty years later, in response to loud public demands for relief of chronic pain, this idea was put into practice by a number of others on a somewhat larger scale. A team of specialists from...