Is there a mismatch between policies to curtail physician opioid prescribing and what we know about changing physician behavior?

The opioid crisis in the United States arose in the context of numerous facilitating factors, including aggressive pharmaceutical marketing, a clinical focus on alleviating pain, and lack of regulatory constraints to prescribing. Compared to other public health threats, a distinguishing characteristic of the opioid problem is that physicians – typically the actors who identify and curb the rise of a spreading disease – have been a major vehicle of its initiation and perpetuation. Thus, much of the effort to prevent ongoing opioid morbidity and mortality has been focused at changing physician prescribing behavior.

Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - March 19, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Esther K. Choo, Robert F. DeMayo, Benjamin C. Sun Tags: Viewpoint Source Type: research