Canadian family physician Médecin de famille canadien
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Editorial Comment
Opioids, pain, and personality: the story of a substitute physician.
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To examine whether variation in prescribing at the level of the individual physician is associated with opioid-related mortality. ⋯ Opioid prescribing varies remarkably among family physicians, and opioid-related deaths are concentrated among patients treated by physicians who prescribe opioids frequently. Strategies to reduce opioid-related harm should include efforts focusing on family physicians who prescribe opioids frequently.
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To describe the characteristics of patients with chronic noncancer pain (CNCP) prescribed opioids by community physicians and referred to a tertiary pain clinic. ⋯ Our results indicate that male, Canadian-born CNCP patients presenting with psychological morbidity or comorbidity and reporting higher pain severity ratings were more likely to receive opioids. Additionally, many CNCP patients referred to our tertiary care pain clinic were receiving opioids in excess of a 200-mg/d MED. More studies are needed to determine which factors lead to high-dose opioid prescribing in a subset of this CNCP population.