War on prescription drugs: what if you depend on opioids to live a decent life?

Published July 12, 2016 This content is archived.

An article in The Guardian about the opioid crisis, and the chronic-pain patients who need to use the drugs on a long-term basis in order to control their pain effectively, quotes Jerrold Winter, professor of pharmacology and toxicology in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “I think [the CDC guidelines] go much too far and a) will leave many in pain and b) will drive some seeking pain relief into the illicit market with all its hazards,” he said. “Indeed, two NIDA officials recently pointed out that the rate of deaths from prescription opiates between 2011 and 2013 were stable while heroin-related death rates rose dramatically. I fear that this trend will only worsen under the CDC guidelines.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/12/prescription-drugs-what-if-you-depend-on-opioids-chronic-pain