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Increase in Legitimate Use as Well as Abuse

Bridget M. Kuehn

JAMA. 2007;297:249-251.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Campaigns to make pain control a priority have succeeded in raising patient and physician awareness of the need for analgesics, and now opioid pain medications are among the most prescribed drugs in the United States. However, this positive trend has been shadowed by growing abuse of these powerful medications.

This dichotomy is proving a persistent challenge for physicians, policy makers, and scientists trying to develop better strategies to thwart abuse while continuing to treat pain effectively.

Hydrocodone (above) combined with acetaminophen was the most prescribed drug in the United States in 2005, according to Verispan, a healthcare information company. (Photo credit: Molecule Data Source: Databank Accession No. APRD00591)

"We have two public health crises going on at the same time: one is undertreated pain and the other is prescription drug abuse," said Scott M. Fishman, MD, chief of the division of pain medicine at the University of . . . [Full Text of this Article]

AN UNDERTREATED PROBLEM



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Recognizing Pain Management as a Human Right: A First Step
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