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After tens of thousands of pain patients were forced to reduce their opioid dosages—some cut off entirely, with little warning—the federal government has finally realized that sharp cuts in prescribing are actually causing some of the harms they intended to prevent. This year, three key federal agencies issued stark warnings about suicide and overdose risk associated with these practices.
But patients, doctors, and advocates report that dose cutbacks are continuing—and a new survey shows that physicians remain hesitant to help these patients. Without changes in law enforcement policy, both patients and physicians will continue to be harmed.
In April, the Food and Drug Administration released a warning admitting that rapid opioid cessation had led to and can cause “uncontrolled pain, psychological distress, and suicide,” telling doctors to stop doing it.