Skip Baker is a leading activist and advocate on issues related to the undertreatment of chronic pain in America. He is a founding member of the American Society for Action on Pain, a national grassroots organization of chronic pain patients, their doctors, and treatment providers. Mr. Baker is himself a patient, and regularly speaks at professional conferences to address the issue of pain undertreatment. He often counsels other pain patients on the brink of suicide (the suicide rate among pain patients is 900% higher than among average Americans), and arranges emergency transportation for suffering patients to the handful of doctors and pain treatment centers in the country.Despite the magnitude of suffering (A National Institutes of Health report on the subject termed pain undertreatment a "national disaster"), chronic pain remains grossly undertreated in most patients. Reasons include: the low priority of pain relief in our health care system; lack of knowledge among both health professionals and consumers about pain management; exaggerated fears of opioid side effects and addiction; and most importantly, health professionals' fear of medical board and DEA scrutiny, even when controlled substances are used appropriately for pain relief.