Op-Ed: Seth Lederman: Veterans deserve freedom from chronic pain
Seth Lederman has a pre-Veterans Day message in his latest op-ed.
They risked everything for our country. Yet far too many veterans face a battle they never trained for when they come home. More than one in three receiving Veterans Health Administration (VA) services — about 2.1 million — live with chronic pain. From combat injuries and years of wear and tear to the lasting effects of blast exposure and traumatic brain injury, constant pain is one of the most common and least visible legacies of service.
Their suffering is often compounded by post-traumatic stress and depression. According to the VA, about one in five veterans with chronic pain has PTSD, and more than half of those with PTSD experience chronic pain. Known in veterans’ healthcare as the “polytrauma triad,” these conditions disproportionately affect those with traumatic injuries, particularly veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. The result is a vicious cycle that erodes health, strains families, and raises suicide risk — the second leading cause of death among veterans under 45.
When opioids are prescribed, more damage can follow. Veterans are especially at risk for opioid overuse and overdose, and for those with trauma-related conditions, the unintended harms can include disrupted sleep, heightened anxiety, and prolonged disability. After decades of limited options, safe and nonaddictive pain treatments could bring relief to many of the nearly 3 million men and women who’ve served abroad since 9/11, as well as countless other Americans with chronic pain.
Unlike opioids, next-generation analgesics have the potential to relieve chronic pain by recalibrating nerve activity rather than masking it. These treatments are thought to work by either altering how the brain perceives pain or reducing heightened nerve activity before it reaches the brain. Some target restorative sleep, which is known to help ease chronic pain. What once seemed out of reach — effective, nonaddictive pain relief — is closer than ever.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has taken leadership on this front. In recent draft guidance, the agency calls for safer non-opioid pain drugs and clear, accelerated regulatory pathways for their approval. The proposed framework marks a meaningful shift toward more effective, evidence-based pain care for veterans and civilians alike. As the CEO of a company focused on non-opioid treatments for chronic pain, I see this guidance as pivotal progress.
Safe and effective non-opioid analgesics could finally close a critical care gap for veterans with chronic pain and help prevent lifelong disorders and drug dependency. In addition, broader access to these treatments would support efforts to reduce addiction and drug-related crimes. High rates of property and prescription-related offenses are linked to people who become addicted through legitimate prescriptions, then turn to illicit drugs to avoid highly painful withdrawal.
The impact of untreated pain reaches far beyond patients. It hurts families and communities, drives disability claims, fuels lost productivity, and contributes to addiction — making safe pain treatment a national priority. Timely intervention with effective, nonaddictive analgesics could change the lives of millions of veterans and the one in five Americans nationwide living with chronic pain. The FDA’s new framework provides a roadmap. What’s needed now is the will to follow it.
To meet this urgent need, an all-of-government approach will be essential. The FDA should implement its recommendations for more predictable regulatory pathways for innovators and drug developers. Congress can accelerate progress with near-term funding for chronic-pain studies that include veterans with PTSD and traumatic brain injury — populations most likely to benefit. The VA can take a lead role in scaling new therapies by prioritizing non-opioid approaches as the standard of care.
Pain should not be the longest tour of service and sacrifice for any soldier. Veterans protected this country with courage and valor. Providing them with effective, nonaddictive pain relief is a way to return that commitment by helping them live not just longer but better. It’s how a grateful nation fulfills its duty to those who bravely honored theirs.
Seth Lederman is co-founder, CEO and chairman of Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp., a biotech company dedicated to developing novel medicines for central nervous system disorders. Its new first-line fibromyalgia treatment, Tonmya, is the first FDA-approved therapy for the chronic pain disorder in over 15 years.