Department of Palliative Care, Rehabilitation, and Integrative Medicine (Y.H., J.T., E.B.), The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Pharmacy Clinical Programs (M.C.), The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
J Pain Symptom Manage. 2023 Sep;66(3):e431-e435. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2023.06.027. Epub 2023 Jun 24.
Pain is one of the most common symptoms experienced by patients living with cancer. Guidelines recommend opioids as the mainstay in the management of cancer-related pain. However, the opioid epidemic has resulted in policymakers recommending limitations on opioid prescribing which led to community pharmacies implementing various parameters. These restrictions have created barriers for patients with cancer-related pain attempting to fill opioid prescriptions from their community pharmacies. Additionally, in the setting of the opioid epidemic, there have been reports of systemic bias within community pharmacies, leading to experiences with embarrassment and shame for patients with cancer-related pain. This case series presents specific examples of community pharmacies declining to fill opioid prescriptions for patients with cancer-related pain and associated patient suffering.
疼痛是癌症患者最常见的症状之一。指南建议将阿片类药物作为治疗癌症相关疼痛的主要药物。然而，阿片类药物流行导致政策制定者建议限制阿片类药物的处方，这导致社区药房实施了各种参数。这些限制为癌症相关疼痛患者从社区药房开阿片类药物处方制造了障碍。此外，在阿片类药物流行的情况下，有报道称社区药房存在系统性偏见，导致癌症相关疼痛患者感到尴尬和羞辱。本病例系列介绍了社区药房拒绝为癌症相关疼痛患者开阿片类药物处方的具体例子，以及相关患者的痛苦。
