| Article
A number of factors came together to facilitate increased prescribing of opioids and prescribing to more people using higher doses. There was a perceived under treatment of chronic pain. Laws and regulations were passed in many states to permit the use of opioids for that purpose, for which they...
| Article
Evidence-based medicine is how we connect research to clinical practice. It started in the 80s and 90s as of way of looking at how studies are done and how they could be applied to clinical care, and it’s gone through a number of changes over the years. Evidence-based medicine now is being applied...
| Article
An article posted earlier this week in the National Pain Report offers a comprehensive but succinct perspective on what public policy on opioid prescribing might look like if written from the point of view of pain patients themselves. Richard Lawhern, PhD, a nonphysician researcher and advocate for...
| Article
The nationwide opioid abuse epidemic has directed a lot of attention from the state and federal levels on the primary care provider. The CDC guidelines for the prescribing of opioids for acute pain can do a lot to help a provider to steel himself or herself in the event that there is inquiry into...
| Video
Will recently released prescribing guidelines from the CDC advance the cause of rational opioid therapy? Will they lead to better pain practice and better patient outcomes? Dr. Argoff considers the good, the bad, and the ugly...
| Article
Much of the publicity today, as well as initiatives like the CDC guidelines, really focus on the outpatient problems with chronic pain patients. But there’s a growing concern with how we prescribe opioids for post-op pain control. There is a fair amount of literature that’s emerging about whether...
| Article
The landscape for prescribers is changing today. Many state licensing boards are adopting new rules or guidelines. Many of them are looking at the CDC guidelines and trying to figure out do they need to incorporate them. Prescribers really need to understand what their licensing boards are doing and...
| Podcast
As we acknowledge the recent increases in deaths and other negative outcomes associated with chronic opioid use, abuse, and overdose, we as clinicians are faced with very important questions: Can opioids be rationally prescribed for chronic pain? For whom? How? For how long? Recent CDC guidelines...
| Podcast
For decades, the concept of morphine equivalent daily dosage (MEDD) or some variant thereof has been routinely utilized clinically (eg, for opioid rotation) as well as in research as a dependent variable. However, recently, the concept has been demonstrated to be a scientifically invalid course...
| Podcast
In February 2016, President Obama expressed his compassion for people with pain loud and clear, saying, "If we go to doctors right now and say 'Don't overprescribe' without providing some mechanisms for people in these communities to deal with the pain that they have or the issues that they have...