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.
Driven by toxic, unpredictable, unregulated supply, drug overdose deaths are rampant. Policies that support the war on drugs have to change to be helpful.
AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(8):E723-728. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.723.