Legal aspects of podiatric pain management.

The topic of pain management remains a minor component of the formal education and training of residents and physicians in the United States. Misguided attitudes concerning acute and chronic pain management, in addition to reservations about the legal aspects of pain management, often translate into a "fear of the unknown" when it comes to narcotic prescription. The intentionally limited scope of this review is to promote an understanding of the laws regulating pain management practices in the United States and to provide recommendations for appropriate pain management assessment and documentation based on the Model Policy for the Use of Controlled Substances for the Treatment of Pain established by the Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States.