Opioids Not Winning the Battle Against Pain

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Opioids Not Winning the Battle Against Pain: Study

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WebMD News from HealthDay

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Sept. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Prescriptions for powerful opioid painkiller drugs have skyrocketed in the United States, but identification and treatment of pain has not improved, according to a new study.

"There is an epidemic of prescription opioid addiction and abuse in the United States. We felt it was important to examine whether or not this epidemic has coincided with improved identification and treatment of pain," Dr. G. Caleb Alexander, an associate professor of epidemiology and medicine and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Drug Safety and Effectiveness, said in a Hopkins news release.

The researchers analyzed federal government data collected between 2000 and 2010, and found no significant change in the number of pain-related visits to doctors that resulted in patients receiving treatment with pain relievers.

During the study period, prescriptions of non-opioid painkillers remained stable, accounting for 26 percent to 29 percent of pain-related visits. However, prescriptions for opioids nearly doubled, from 11 percent to 19 percent, the investigators found.

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