FEATURE
5-STEP INITIAL APPROACH TO CARING FOR the
Displaced Pain Patient on Chronic Opioid Therapy
James Patrick Murphy, MD, MMM
P
roviding therapeutic continuity
for patients who have abruptly lost
access to their prescriber (e.g. pain
clinic closure) can be a challenge,
especially if the patient has been
treated with opioids and other controlled
substances.
A patient in pain, facing the possibility of
worsening pain combined with medication
withdrawal, can feel very stressed. In this potentially difficult sce-
nario, the caregiver must convey an air of calmness and empathy.
Providers may seize this clinical inflection point as an opportunity
to redirect the course of treatment, or provide a therapeutic bridge
to specialty