Physicians aren't to blame for the nation's opioid crisis, according to doctors who spoke to Medscape about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) new opioid prescription guidelines for primary care practitioners.
A number of physicians said doctors, who were for years encouraged to treat patients so that they were pain free, should not be held responsible for the opioid epidemic. And many physicians say they are worried about the unintended consequences of the CDC guidelines, fearing that patients who cannot get opioid painkillers from their doctors may turn to heroin.
Reacting to widespread opioid abuse that claimed 20,000 U.S. lives last year, the CDC last month issued guidelines advising healthcare professionals to prescribe treatments other than opioids for chronic pain outside of active cancer treatment, palliative care and end-of-life care. The CDC also characterized the opioid crisis as a "doctor-driven epidemic."
Doctors, however, pointed out that pain was designated as the "fifth vital sign" and they were under pressure to make sure patients were not in pain. "The opioid epidemic was created by the government and the media under the direction of their bosses in the pharmaceutical companies," one doctor told Medscape. Despite physicians' defense, one poll found one-third of Americans disagree and believe physicians are mainly responsible for the widespread abuse of prescription painkillers.
Physicians also faulted patient satisfaction surveys and doctor rating systems, that allow patients to complain about physicians who don't give them pain medication.
But a few doctors supported the CDC guidelines. One said physicians were handing out the prescriptions "like candy" and felt validated for not giving patients opiate painkillers when they asked for them.
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