THE FUSE

Are patients with severe chronic pain being denied effective treatments because physicians fear prescribing opioids? Pain is one of the most common reasons adults seek medical care in the United States, with recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Health Interview Survey data indicating that the prevalence of chronic pain has risen to 24.3 percent of the adult population. Of those individuals, approximately 8.5 percent experience high-impact chronic pain, which severely limits daily life or work activities.