Impact on Patients’ Pain Management
A heart-wrenching story of Teresa, a woman in her mid-60s battling advanced cancer, highlights the dire consequences of the DEA’s proposed 2025 opioid quotas on patients’ pain management. As a palliative medicine doctor, Dr. Rebecca Rodin shares Teresa’s struggle to access essential pain medications due to increasing shortages caused by these quotas.
Behind the Numbers
The DEA has been steadily reducing aggregate production quotas (APQs) for opioid medications since 2017 to combat the opioid overdose epidemic, resulting in limited availability of these vital medications for patients like Teresa. While the opioid crisis is a pressing issue, the real threat lies in illicit street drugs like fentanyl, not prescription opioids, which are crucial for managing pain in seriously ill patients.
A Call for Action
Despite the importance of opioids in treating pain for individuals with advanced cancer and other life-limiting conditions, access to these medications has become increasingly challenging. Dr. Rodin emphasizes that quotas and resulting shortages of prescription pain medicines do not address the root cause of the opioid epidemic, which is illicit fentanyl. Patients like Teresa are left suffering as a result of these misguided efforts.
In a world where pain is inevitable for those with serious illnesses, suffering doesn’t have to be. Dr. Rodin urges the DEA to reconsider the proposed cuts in opioid production quotas to ensure that vulnerable patients are not inadvertently harmed in the fight against the opioid crisis. As a palliative medicine doctor who witnesses firsthand the impact of these shortages on patients, she advocates for a more nuanced approach that prioritizes compassionate care for those in need.