5 ms·
I am from India. I have two close family members who are fighting metastatic cancer. Their pain is not manageable with lower pain killers. I am thankful we hav
by shabda 8y ago
I am from India. I have two close family members who are fighting metastatic cancer.
Their pain is not manageable with lower pain killers. I am thankful we have opoids to prescribe, which is making significant improvement to their quality of life.
- DanBC 8y agoChronic is a jargon word. It means "long term pain". Cancer pain is not long term pain, cancer pain is short term pain (or acute pain). I've never argued against using opioids for cancer patients or for end of life treatment.
- GordonS 8y agoCancer pain can involve both acute and chronic pain - death is not always swift.
- GordonS 8y agoThat kind of pain management is more technically referred to as "palliative care", which often involves both acute and chronic pain. I don't think anyone here would argue that palliative care is a bad use of opioids.
- criddell 8y agoDon't you think there's a danger that because of the opioid epidemic, doctors might hesitate to prescribe the drugs to people that actually need them?
- GordonS 8y agoYes, I do, and I mention this in another comment here. If you take a look at /r/ChronicPain/, you'll find lots of people who have been unfairly affected in exactly this way, some even becoming suicidal because of it.