Eighty-one percent of primary care physicians surveyed recently said they are reluctant to take on patients who are on opioids, according to findings released in October by Quest Diagnostics Inc.
The Secaucus, New York-based drug testing company surveyed 500 doctors in July and August 2019 for its Health Trends report on drug misuse in the United States. It found that in addition to wariness surrounding chronic pain patients, 83% of those surveyed said it is “considerably harder” to treat such patients.
“We are hearing it all over the place: ‘My doctors won’t write my medicines,’” said Dr. Steven Feinberg, a pain expert and founder of the Palo Alto, California-based Feinberg Medical Group, adding “a lot of good” has come out of some state measures aiming to limit overprescribing and to crack down on irresponsible prescribing.
“Doctors are afraid of writing prescriptions, yes, but the days of writing 100 Tylenol 3s or Norcos for every patient that walks through the door are over,” he said, using examples of commonly prescribed name-brand opioid medications. “It was inappropriate.”
Will untreated pain be a factor in the reductions? Doctors surveyed by Quest think so: 72% said that although the country may see a decline in deaths related to opioid use, the “trade-off will be a greater number of patients whose pain is not managed,” according to the survey results.
