Addiction and Chronic Pain
Chronic pain, especially chronic pain unrelated to cancer, is notoriously under-treated. In 1999, the American Pain Society surveyed 805 people who had chronic pain about the adequacy of treatment they received from their physicians.1 More than 50% of the survey respondents had been in pain for more than five years, and more than 40% of respondents with moderate-to-severe pain could not find adequate relief. For most sufferers, the cause was arthritis or back disorders. Almost half of the 805 patients had changed doctors at least once. The...More
Following is managing editor Jennifer Lobb's interview with Jennifer Schneider, MD, PhD, a pain management specialist and addiction medicine specialist. Dr. Schneider is the author of Living with Chronic Pain and numerous other books...
Recent media coverage of narcotic medications and addiction has led to serious misconceptions about the role of such medications in treating chronic pain. The media's sensationalism of this issue has tragic repercussions for the more...