Objective Evidence of Severe Disease: Opioid Use in Chronic Pain

Treating chronic pain presents numerous challenges. First, assessing patients with chronic pain is complicated by the lack of objective measures of pain itself. Chronic pain guidelines already developed by national organizations rely on careful history taking rather than objective measures. Second, opioids are an accepted element of chronic pain management, but their use is tempered by risks of overdose, dependency, and the potential for diversion. This essay proposes a new standard for the use of long-term opioids for chronic pain: the presence or absence of objective evidence of severe disease. This standard, which supports responsible prescribing of opioids, is one that clinicians can understand and apply when considering prescribing long-term opioids for chronic pain. Until we have measures of pain itself, we should insist upon objective evidence of severe disease before prescribing opioids for chronic pain.