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Papers of the Week


Papers: 4 May 2019 - 10 May 2019


Human Studies


2019


PLoS One


14


5

An ethnography of chronic pain management in primary care: The social organization of physicians’ work in the midst of the opioid crisis.

Authors

Webster F, Rice K, Katz J, Bhattacharyya O, Dale C, Upshur R
PLoS One. 2019; 14(5):e0215148.
PMID: 31042733.

Abstract

This study reports on physicians' experiences with chronic pain management. For over a decade prescription opioids have been a primary treatment for chronic pain in North America. However, the current opioid epidemic has complicated long-standing practices for chronic pain management which historically involved prescribing pain medication. Caring for patients with chronic pain occurs within a context in which a growing proportion of patients suffer from chronic rather than acute conditions alongside rising social inequities.