Pain Management and the Opioid Epidemic: Balancing Societal and Individual Benefits and Risks of Prescription Opioid Use

The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine wrote this report at the request of the Food and Drug Administration to characterize the opioid epidemic, describe the evidence on strategies for addressing it, and identify actions that government agencies can pursue to respond to the epidemic. A committee of 18 experts wrote this report, and they recommended that opioid abuse become a public health priority. Other recommendations included enhancing education on opioid abuse for health professionals and the public, collecting better data on pain and opioid use, implementing state laws to increase the availability of naloxone, and investing in evidence-based treatment for opioid abuse in multiple settings, such as prisons and hospitals.