Trying to prevent overdose risk by increasing suicide risk is not good policy. my latest for @nytimes is here

Obscene: "In 2016, seeking to curb opioid misuse, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention introduced guidelines outlining a maximum safe dosage and strongly urging doctors to avoid prescribing for chronic pain unless death is imminent." nyti.ms/2E2sg0a @maiasz

Attempting to reduce overdose risk by depriving patients of painkillers raises the odds of suicide and is both cruel and senseless.

Re stiffing of pain patients on needed meds: "In the rush to reduce opioid misuse, it is easy to forget that millions of people have safely taken these drugs for years. Data show that less than 8 percent of chronic pain patients become addicted..." nytimes.com/2019/02/09/opi… @maiasz

Truly tragic, pain patient who resorted to heroin & is brave enough to admit. @VanilaSingh @CDCDirector @StefanKertesz @SubstanceAbuseJ @slsatel Public Comment to @maiasz’s article in the @nytimes: nytimes.com/2019/02/09/opi… pic.twitter.com/S6TvDhXa2R

“We have less mercy for people who have chronic pain and are on chronic opioids than we do for somebody who’s using heroin in the streets right now,” said Dr. Kertesz When the Cure Is Worse Than the Disease

Opioid addiction is bad. So is pain. It's important to find a balance, rather than subjecting patients to agony that could be avoided.

Honestly thought this was going to be about the Green New Deal “When the Cure Is Worse Than the Disease”

Main message in this @maiasz piece can’t be said often enough: Abruptly lowering opioid doses (or cutting patients off altogether) is terrible, terrible medicine. nytimes.com/2019/02/09/opi… A few points are worth elaborating on. /1

Important piece by ⁦@maiasz⁩ on why reducing #opioid prescribing alone will not solve the #overdose crisis but can cause very real harms including rising fentanyl & heroin related deaths in context of unsafe drug supply & suicide.

In an effort to reduce opioid addiction, doctors are cutting back on pain pill prescriptions. But many patients with chronic pain are suffering and in some cases suicidal as a result.

Lock-step, wholesale restrictions on opioids hurts one large group: chronic pain patients. Careful accounting by @maiasz

When the Cure Is Worse Than the Disease: In an effort to reduce #opioids #addiction, doctors are cutting back on #pain medication, by @maiasz nyti.ms/2E2sg0a via @NYThealth

Since the early '90s @maiasz has been one of the smartest, important voices in America about addiction, narcotics, #HIV and now #opioids . Her latest piece is a must-read.

When the Cure Is Worse Than the Disease: In an effort to reduce opioid addiction, doctors are cutting back on pain medication — and sometimes leaving patients to suffer.

When the Cure Is Worse Than the Disease nyti.ms/2E2sg0a Forced #opioid tapering and draconian regulations are causing more harm than good. See also my @Medscape commentary: medscape.com/viewarticle/90…

When the Cure Is Worse Than the Disease: In an effort to reduce opioid addiction, doctors are cutting back on pain medication — and sometimes leaving patients to suffer.