Patients with pain and addiction: what's a doctor to do?

Significant improvements in the evaluation and treatment of pain have led to more prescribing of and increased pressure to prescribe a variety of potentially addictive drugs to patients who are suffering from acute and chronic pain. Although these drugs serve an important purpose, they present risks to patients who are in recovery from addiction, are currently addicted, or have a family history of addiction. This article presents an overview of the concerns physicians face when treating such patients and outlines strategies for safely using these drugs.