Is dying from copd painful? can the pain be managed to prevent suffering?

Yes: Dying from COPD is a very difficult way to go. In my experience the opiate medications make all the difference.

Yes. It's bad.: I would rather die three times from lung cancer than waste away once from emphysema. I'm told the pain is like choking or drowning. It's a prolonged, slow, miserable experience. Sometimes carbon dioxide narcosis eases the process ("blue bloater") though speeding death. The worst can be palliated. The tobacco ceo's have a terrible load of guilt just from this disease group.

No: It depends on how your define pain. If you believe that gasping for air and feeling like you are unable to breathe is painful, then it does hurt. In actuality, COPD is a huge disability. You need many medicines, oxygen, breathing treatments, and have a limited exertional tolerance such that you might not even be able to leave the house. Morphine inhalation may open airways, but it's not for pain..