U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy is asking health care practitioners across the country to do their part to help combat the opioid addiction crisis.
The Surgeon General is sending a letterto physicians and other health care professionals, asking them to pledge to learn how to treat their patients' pain safely and effectively. He also urges doctors to screen patients for opioid use, connect them with evidence-based treatment, and to talk about and treat addiction as a chronic illness, not a moral failing.
"This raises the profile of this issue, and it's a real issue,” said Dr. Peter Salgo, host of WXXI-TV'sSecond Opinion. “It's a problem in America and it's growing. If you raise the profile, as the Surgeon General has done, then I think it's up to the rest of America's physicians to deal with it. Most pain will go away given enough time. Narcotic addition, once you've got it, may stay with you for the rest of your life."
For some people, opioid addiction begins when a patient is prescribed a medication to control pain following an injury or a surgical procedure. Dr. Salgo said there are non-narcotic alternatives that can effectively treat pain, including some of the newer non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as Toradol.
"And although it sounded like, I guess, voodoo medicine at first, prescribing things like exercise and movement - these things really work. I'm as skeptical as anyone else about things that are not pharmacological in nature. But I've seen this work."
Dr. Salgo adds that patients must also do their part by asking their physician to prescribe a non-narcotic alternative to treat their pain.
"I really think it's important to realize that nobody has gotten into this situation from the doctor’s side with bad will; no ill will here. Everybody is trying to do one thing and do it right, which is to help patients live better, live pain free, and to go forward with their lives with one less problem."
As many as one in four patients receiving long-term opioid therapy in primary care settings struggle with opioid addiction, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
A recent episode of Second Opinion addresses the opioid addiction crisis.
