Let’s Face It–Some Patients Need to Be on Opioids

Let’s Face It–Some Patients Need to Be on Opioids – medscape.com – Kenneth W. Lin, MD, MPH – Feb 2019

According to a National Institutes of Health–sponsored workshop, an estimated 25 million Americans experience moderate to severe chronic pain, and 5-8 million of them use opioids for long-term pain management.

Although it is now widely recognized that excessive opioid prescribing has contributed to an epidemic of opioid use disorder and overdoses, the adoption of inflexible dosing limits or “no opioid” policies by many physicians and pharmacy benefit managers has also caused substantial harm.

Last November, the American Medical Association’s House of Delegates adopted several resolutions that advocated against misapplication of the 2016 CDC guideline on opioids for chronic pain.

So far, there have been no changes, despite the FDA’s and the CDC’s warnings about minterpretation of the guidelines.