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Seniors facing a painful retreat from opioid treatment

With doctors and the government putting their feet down on opioid prescriptions, older patients in need of chronic pain management are left in a lurch.

By Dan Cook | Updated on June 08, 2016
With doctors and the government putting their feet down on opioid prescriptions, older patients in need of chronic pain management are left in a lurch. (Photo: iStock)

Chronic pain and opioid drugs combine a nasty condition with an equally nasty treatment. For many Americans, treating pain with narcotic pharmaceuticals has become a habit, one encouraged for years by the medical profession.

But now, as Paula Span writes in The New York Times, the nasty couple may be breaking up.

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Dan Cook

Dan Cook

Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.

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