The Opioid Abuse Epidemic - A Hero Complex?

Our reactions to the opioid epidemic should not be about more or less regulation but encouraging and enabling care teams to consider alternatives to pain pills. As this article describes, the clinical community made a lot of choices in the 80s and 90s that contributed to the rise in opioid abuse and overdose, so it seems only fitting that they should now be a part of the solution. The patient also has an important role to play in evaluating pain management treatments rather than jumping immediately to a prescription. 

"But such strategies require talking with patients to change their expectations when it comes to treating their pain."

Communicating expectations. The care process has to allow for these conversations and that will require a change in how patients and providers interact today.