Chronic pain and opioid drugs combine a nasty condition with an equally nasty treatment. For many Americans, treating pain with narcotic pharmaceuticals has become a habit, one encouraged for years by the medical profession.
But now, as Paula Span writes in The New York Times, the nasty couple may be breaking up.
As media and medical professionals continue to track the growing “opioid crisis,” suddenly what was once a panacea for the suffering of many seniors is now being attacked as the enemy. Using opioids has been rebranded as a dangerous method that makes the elderly lazy, dependent and incapable of following safer treatment programs that don’t include opioids.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
