This excellent article published earlier this year at www.themighty.com discusses The Other Side of the Opioid Epidemic: Denying Treatment to People With Chronic Pain.

The article points out that so much information today is out there about opioids & opioid addiction. Television, newspapers and magazines constantly run stories about towns and lives destroyed from opioid abuse. What you don’t hear about is how long-term disabled people in chronic pain are being denied legitimate opioid prescriptions. Pain patients are being denied treatment, even if they’ve never shown any risks of abuse.

Most people who take opioids do not abuse them, and it allows them to at least function and participate in life. Why don’t we focus on making sure opioids are prescribed properly with appropriate monitoring and follow-up care, rather than deny millions of Americans the ability to function and live a meaningful life?