Doctors are Unaware How Opioids are Abused Save

A survey of internists and family practitioners shows that half of physicians are unaware of how opioids are abused. One-third of doctors did not know that swallowing whole pills was the most popular method of abusing opioids and nearly half thought that (abuse-deterrent) pills that can't be crushed and snorted or injected were less addictive that the regular pills (citation source http://url.ie/z1py).  Most support interventions to reduce prescription opioid abuse, including the use of patient contracts (98%), drug testing (90%), checking a centralized database prior to prescribing opioids (88%), and greater restrictions for the promotion of opioids (77-82%).  Still one-third believe these measures may obstruct adequate access to pain management. One of the concerns is whether lack of knowledge on opiates may adversely influence the number of prescriptions.