FDA issues draft guidance urging non‐opioid pain treatments

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued guidance designed to expand non‐opioid options for chronic pain. The point is the curb misuse. This isn't a new tack for the federal government, which issued guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention more than 10 years ago designed to curb opioid prescriptions for pain. The guidelines were, unfortunately, regarded as rules by the medical community, with the result that pain patients were suddenly denied medication (see ADAW https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.32349 ).