Should Doctors Try to Alleviate Pain?

The rising level of deaths from opioid overdoses is getting a lot of attention, including from aNobel laureate economist and theWhite House. In the rush to find a solution to the problem of opioids, I hope we don ’t forget the problem that opioids were intended to cure: chronic severe pain. Living with that kind of pain is awful, and it’s wonderful that science has found ways to help people in pain.But that ’s not the way President Trump’s surgeon general sees it. In anNPR interview this week, Dr. Jerome Adams had this to say:NPR ’s Elise Hu: Much of this crisis started in doctors’ offices. We’ve heard statistics like doctors in the United States prescribe four times the number of pills per person that doctors in the United Kingdom do, for example. What do you think is encouraging doctors to prescribe at those levels?Dr. Adams: Well, I can tell you, as one of those doctors, that many of my colleagues tell me they feel pressured to prescribe. You have patients who expect an opioid is the only or main way to treat their pain. But I would take issue with one thing you said —I don ’t think it started in the doctors’ offices. I think it starts before that. I think that it starts with this expectation that everyone’s going to have no pain, with the idea that a pill can solve everything. And we need to help folks understand there ’s a real danger to feeling like we can medicate our way out of any and all problems. (Note: that statement appears at about 4:25 ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs