Prioritizing Pain Management in the Opioid Epidemic

Chronic pain affects millions of people worldwide and is likely to increase in the coming decades. The multifactorial nature of pain is often not recognized by the medical establishment, and accessing the right combination of treatments is not easy. Integrative care involving pain psychologists, physical therapists, and spinal specialists can be more effective in treating chronic pain than single interventions, but health-care policies and insurance systems are often a barrier. Approaches that fail to prioritize the many complex drivers of chronic pain and even deny its existence are causing unnecessary suffering for millions. Reform is needed to ensure that people experiencing chronic pain are able to access treatments that are most likely to help them.