Dr. Schwarz is associate professor of emergency medicine and medical toxicology section chief at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
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ACEP Now: Vol 37 – No 09 – September 2018Dr. Waller is a fellow at the National Center for Complex Health and Social Needs and managing partner at Complex Care Consulting LLC.
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One Response to “Your Overdose Patient Doesn’t Want to Quit—Now What?”
September 16, 2018
Gary Roberts, MD JDFifteen years ago I attended a (state mandated) CME program on pain. It was presented by UC Davis and entitled, “The War on Pain.” We were advised that UNDERTREATMENT of pain was a medical crisis and that we were ethically obliged to provide adequate quantities of narcotics. The message, better to over-treat than otherwise.
Two points:
1. the opioid crisis is iatrogenically mediated and legislatively induced. Physicians are taking the heat for the unintended (nonetheless foreseeable) consequences of “do-gooder” legislators whose attempts to control medical practice have backfired in a spectacular fashion.
2. how is dealing with an opioid addict different from dealing with a smoker or alcoholic?