Which patients are more likely to be prescribed chronic opioids by their primary care physician? Should we be concerned? A new study offers insight.
Multiple clinical practice guidelines including those issued by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommend that opioids should generally not be prescribed for extended periods. However, some patients are still being prescribed opioids on a chronic basis by a primary care physician (PCP) with 45% of all opioid prescriptions in the US being written by PCPs. (continued below)