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> Docs and pain

> Full story:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2002009062_druged19.html

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> New guidelines for prescription painkillers represent an equitable

strategy for physicians and federal drug enforcement.

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> The rules balance the need for stronger vigilance of illicit

prescription-drug use with doctors' need to aggressively treat

pain.Non-medical use of prescription drugs ranks second only to marijuana

use as the most commonly abused drug in the U.S. One drug, OxyContin, is

blamed in more than 100 deaths. It is appropriate, then, for the Drug

Enforcement Administration, by regulating doctors who prescribe opioid

painkillers such as morphine and OxyContin, to combat prescription-drug

misuse.

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> But some efforts have had a chilling effect on the medical profession. The

arrest of 50 doctors nationwide last year on charges that they prescribed or

distributed controlled substances beyond the scope of medical practice led

doctors to fear if they prescribed significant amounts of painkillers they

would be singled out by law enforcement.

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> The new guidelines should go a long way toward easing doctors' fears.

Created by a team of physicians and the nation's top cops, they help

law-enforcement agents and prosecutors distinguish aggressive pain

management from drug diversion.

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> For example, the guidelines warn against automatically assuming

malfeasance because a medical practice includes a lot of opioid-taking

patients. About 30 percent of Americans suffer from chronic pain, meaning

some doctors will have a large clientele of patients taking pain-killers.

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> The guidelines advise that long-distance prescribing and a large number of

premature refills might be better indications of illegal activity.

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> In addition, by detailing exactly how to prescribe painkillers, the

guidelines set uniform standards for doctors.

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> Doctors are not the culprits in the war against prescription-drug misuse.

Most painkillers obtained illegally are stolen from doctors' offices,

pharmacies or purchased from Internet pill mills that offer limited or no

physician oversight.

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> Federal controls create a balance between promoting pain relief and

stopping criminal activity.

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