1 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 0
T
o prevent
the next
patient
from get-
ting
hooked on opioids,
let's first consider what
helped cause the
national epidemic to
spiral out of control. It
wasn't surgeons pass-
ing out opioids like aspirin, pill mill docs looking to profit off drug-seek-
ing patients or addicts working the system for their next fix. The prolif-
eration of opioids in communities across the nation can be linked to
well-meaning surgeons who prescribed excessive amounts of
painkillers to keep their patients comfortable after surgery because,
well, that's how they'd always done it.
"Surgeons of course know about the opioid crisis, but they might
not realize that their overprescribing is contributing to the problem,"
says Andrew Kolodny, MD, co-director of the Opioid Policy Research
Collaborative at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass. "The surgical
community is much more aware of the epidemic, but that awareness
hasn't yet translated into appropriate prescribing practices."
Surgeons are beginning to rely less on opioids to manage post-op
pain, but it's going to take time for physicians to alter their prescribing
habits, says Michael Manning, MD, an assistant professor of anesthesi-
Daniel Cook | Executive Editor
A Nation in Crisis
Surgeons helped cause the opioid addiction problem.
Now they can be part of the solution.
• PILING ON Healthcare professionals who failed to understand the seriousness of
the opioid addiction epidemic put countless patients in peril.
