Every week there is a new article on the opioid epidemic. The focus is all on the number of people addicted to pain medications and how people are dying every day. Today an article appeared in the paper on how one of the drug companies is making a long acting opioid and how it can make people become addicted. Other stories are focusing on those who already have addiction problems. The real problem is the need for better treatment for pain, for both acute and chronic. 

Chronic pain affects 30 percent of the worldwide population. Until the last several decades, many people did not survive long enough such that pain was a problem for decades of their lifetime. Now, life expectancy is often into the 80’s and many have chronic, painful conditions for nearly half of their life. The range of treatments is limited, and there is often no full cure for a lot of conditions that result in pain, despite the fact that western society expects the physician to have a miracle cure. Even the most knowledgeable patients often have unrealistic expectations to be pain free with the next treatment option.

Patient and Physician Need To Work Together

Yes, the United States of America has an opioid addiction problem. The real problem, however, is a lack of education for the patient and physician on how pain can be treated. On top of this is the focus on treatment of addiction versus the better treatment of pain. One of the main problems leading to opioid addiction is the lack of medications to treat pain. Other treatments for pain are not as easy as taking a pill. Physical therapy, behavioral interventions and injections may be better, but they are more difficult for the patient and definitely more costly.

The most frustrating problem for physicians is insurance coverage for newer medications, maintenance physical therapy, psychological therapies, alternative therapies, comprehensive pain programs and sophisticated interventions. It is easier to get coverage for an opioid for pain than get psychology to prevent the need for opioids. The same is true for allowing a trial of a spinal cord stimulator versus allowing for a back surgery. An intervention that has a cheaper overall cost and is safer within a year or two will not be covered by insurance. Further, the insurance companies often will say a treatment is experimental, such as a radiofrequency neurotomy or the use of Lidoderm patches, refusing to cover the expense while gladly paying for highly addictive opioids.

Pain patients and physicians are equally frustrated by the lack of coverage for alternatives to opioids. Instead of focusing so much on the bad outcomes of opioids and treating addicts, investments need to be placed on using alternative treatments and funding research to develop better pain treatments. One third of the population suffers from pain. It is about time the pharmaceutical industry, government, and even insurance companies invest in better pain management strategies.