5 ways pain and addiction patients can get better care

About 25 million people are in recovery from substance use disorder (SUD), while approximately 100 million people live in chronic pain. With our nation fixated on the estimated 60,000 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2016, you might expect the interests of both groups to be in conflict. Consider two anecdotes. Paul is living with chronic pain from a car accident nine years ago. His physician abruptly cut his opioid dosage even though he’d been stable. In his legislative testimony, he said, “While I understand [some] are happy to abuse medications, I’m not one of them … I’m well below my previous medication [amount] but far above my tolerable level of pain. My quality of life is suffering greatly.” Countless people echo his concerns in comments from a STAT News column. My friend Chris received high-dose opioids from his physician for a back injury, turned to the streets when they ran out and eventually transitioned to heroin. Authorities from the CDC and FDA assert that if doctors prescribed more carefully, Chris might have avoided a 10-year addiction. Problematically, he’d misused substances before opioids and had other complicating factors at play. His childhood trauma led to unresolved emotional pain, fueling his love of opioids and subsequent addiction. Nonetheless, opioids nearly ruined him. Continue reading ... Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how.
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Conditions Pain Management Source Type: blogs