New opioid rules a concern to people with chronic pain

Brian Cairns, a UBC pharmaceutical sciences professor, wrote a letter published in the Vancouver Sun about the new legal standards for prescribing opioid painkillers.

“The vast majority of [chronic non-caner pain] patients whose pain is managed with opioid analgesics use them appropriately. The concern is that these new legally binding standards may discourage physicians from continuing to manage chronic non-cancer pain,” he wrote.