Another large international Study [Canadian], which highlights how force-tapering or “Discontinuing opioid therapy for people with chronic pain raises the risk of a patient dying from an overdose.”
YET in Australia, our recently released National Pain Survey showed that over 1 in 4 Australians with Chronic Pain [i.e. 26%!] have experienced enforced opioid tapering since the TGA introduced restrictions to our Opioid Prescribing Guidelines on 1-6-20.
WHY have we not learned from the bad policy example set in America, where it is now known, despite reducing the volume of legally issued opioid prescriptions by 60% since 2016, “opioid” overdose deaths have continued to skyrocket? Could it be because the wrong demographic has been needlessly targeted? When will it sink in that the vast majority of responsible chronic pain patients did NOT cause any opioid “crisis” or out-of-control epidemic of substance abuse?
Author: Kevin R James
Chronic Pan Patient Advocate and Writer. Medically Retired RN [B.Nurs.]