How The CDC's Opioid Prescribing Guideline Hurts Chronic Pain Patients

“Conflating the misuse of opioids with their legitimate medical use, and treating all opioids alike is stigmatizing patients for whom opioid painkillers are necessary and medically appropriate,” writes one expert. The heavy-handed misapplication of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s opioid-prescribing guideline is hurting legitimate pain patients, according to a STAT News opinion piece… Continue reading How The CDC's Opioid Prescribing Guideline Hurts Chronic Pain Patients

New Opioid Laws Seek To Curb Overprescribing

Though there is no hard evidence of the effectiveness of the laws yet, some professionals see the numbers as heading in the right direction. As the opioid epidemic has continued to claim lives, more than two dozen states have put laws in place in the hope of limiting the damage. Of those two dozen, the… Continue reading New Opioid Laws Seek To Curb Overprescribing

Inside Racial Disparities In Opioid Prescribing, Drug Testing

Black patients who tested positive for marijuana were twice as likely to have their pain pills discontinued than their white counterparts. Black patients who are prescribed opioids for chronic pain are more likely to be tested for illicit drug use than their white counterparts. Black patients are also more likely to have their pain medication… Continue reading Inside Racial Disparities In Opioid Prescribing, Drug Testing

New York Moves To Replace Opioids With Medical Marijuana

Opioid use disorder has been added to the list of qualifying conditions that medical cannabis can be used to treat in the state. Officials in New York have changed medical marijuana policy in order to make it easier for patients to access medical cannabis in lieu of opioids, and have added opioid use disorder to… Continue reading New York Moves To Replace Opioids With Medical Marijuana

Pain Patients Turn To Controversial Injection After Cuts To Opioid Coverage

The anti-inflammatory drug has been banned in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, New Zealand and Switzerland. Back problems are the most common cause of chronic pain, and at the time when Medicare is cutting coverage for many opioid pain relievers, lawmakers are increasing Medicare coverage for a potentially dangerous off-label treatment for back pain.  Depo-Medrol… Continue reading Pain Patients Turn To Controversial Injection After Cuts To Opioid Coverage

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