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Howard Fields, University of California San Francisco
Because of the epidemic of
Because of the epidemic of opioid overdose and the potential contribution of prescription opioid analgesics, the United States Congress mandated a multidisciplinary task force to develop recommendations for clinical best practices in the management of chronic pain. This report is a result of the work of that Task Force. It is a well-documented and fairly comprehensive overview of current practice, with recommendations that, if implemented, will definitely improve the care of many patients currently suffering from chronic non-malignant pain. These guidelines are focused on chronic pain but include a discussion of acute pain management as well. Of particular interest is a final section discussing the value of the earlier guidelines for opioid use disseminated by the Centers for Disease Control. The CDC has now recognized that many patients have been harmed by misinterpretation of those guidelines leading to involuntary discontinuation of their opioid analgesics.