Challenges to Treatment of Chronic Pain and Addiction During the “Opioid Crisis”

Abstract

Health care in the USA faces a double challenge, the crisis of chronic pain and the crisis of opioid misuse and overdose. Patients have been prescribed opioids at high doses with unclear indications for long periods of time, putting them at high risk for morbidity and mortality. A significant proportion of these patients have comorbid psychiatric or substance use disorders complicating their pain conditions. The challenges to treating these patients adequately are discussed, along with potential solutions to these issues at the level of the individual provider, healthcare systems, and society.

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