Legacy patients are so-called because their opioid use behaviors express past, aggressive opioid prescribing by a clinician. Managing their pain and dependence justly is ethically complex.
AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(8):E651-657. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.651.
Dr Ala Shaikhkhalil joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article, coauthored with Drs Ethan A. Mezoff and Hannah Hays: “Should Clinicians Prescribe Non-FDA Regulated Dietary Supplements When Caring for Children With Hypovitaminosis D?”
Jack M. Berger, MS, MD, PhD and Nalini Vadivelu, MD
Guidelines for the use of controlled substances for the treatment of pain now consider inappropriate treatment, including undertreatment of pain, a departure from an acceptable standard of practice.
The importance of the Oregon experiment is that the state developed a public process for prioritizing medical services rather than relying on undisclosed private decisions by individuals or insurers.