Pain Management for People with Serious Illness in the Context of the Opioid Use Disorder Epidemic

"The United States is facing an opioid use disorder epidemic with opioid overdoses killing 47,000 people in the U.S. in 2017 (NASEM, 2019). The past three decades have witnessed a significant increase in the prescribing of opioids for pain, based on the belief that patients were being under treated for their pain, coupled with a widespread misunderstanding of the addictive properties of opioids. This increase in prescribing of opioids also saw a parallel increase in addiction and overdose. The 2000s saw a wave of overdose deaths driven by the increased use of illegal drugs such as heroin. Currently, the nation is in the midst of another wave of overdose deaths, due to the increased use of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl (CDC, 2018)." --