MSSNY Response to Newsday Article
In a letter to the editor of Newsday (NY) (10/4), MSSNY President Paul A. Pipia, MD, writes, “We have made great strides in reducing unnecessary opioid prescriptions in New York and across the country. However, efforts to address one problem can create a new one.” Many physicians have been intimidated by “the threat of sanctions from federal and state criminal authorities – not to mention state disciplinary authorities” – and will avoid “prescribing opioids for their patients, even when their clinical judgment is that opioids are the most appropriate therapy for treating pain.” Pipia concludes, “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s revisions to the pain guidelines in 2022 is a good first step, but it doesn’t go far enough. As physicians, our first and most important goal is to ensure the health and well-being of our patients. That will not happen if physicians can’t present patients with the best treatment options.”
