One of the scales used by health professionals to measure pain is described elsewhere on this site.The scale is almost identical in concept to Ralph Siu's Dukkha Scale.

The WASHINGTON POST article goes on to say:

"The new rules reflect recent dramatic changes in attitudes toward pain and its treatment. Advocates for people with cancer and for the dying have long argued that the medical profession too often ignores or undertreats pain, contributing to unnecessary suffering...Experts said [the new] standards are likely to improve treatment quality by forcing hospitals and other facilities to address shortcomings in the care of patients with pain."

The article continues:

"This will change the culture of health care ...", said Susan Tolle, director of the Center for Ethics in Health Care at the Oregon Health Sciences University."

The article points out that in the Northern Virginia hospital system "there is even an assessment scale for newborn infants in which nurses use a baby's crying, grunting and pulse rate to estimate pain after surgery."

The piece quotes Joanne Lynn, a hospice physician and director at the Rand Center to Improve the Care of the Dying that "pain assessment scales have proven to be valuable tools. Even though patients vary in how they subjectively score their pain, each individual tends to use the scale consistently... Very few people say that they could only stand living with a 0. They'll say, 'Well I think I'd be comfortable with a 2 or 3.'"