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.
A 3-step analgesic ladder was introduced in 1986 and needs change. Surgical interventions could reduce opioid use and motivate expansion of current pain management approaches.
AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(8):E695-701. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.695.
Jing Li, PhD, Robert Tyler Braun, PhD, Sophia Kakarala, and Holly G. Prigerson, PhD
For dying patients and their loved ones to make informed decisions, physicians must share adequate information about prognoses, prospective benefits and harms of specific interventions, and costs.
AMA J Ethics. 2022;24(11):E1040-1048. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2022.1040.