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For Arthritis Pain, Nonopioid Drugs Work as Well as Opioids (Published 2018)
Opioids are no better than over-the-counter pain relievers for relief of arthritic back, hip or knee pain.
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Effect of Opioid vs Nonopioid Medications on Pain-Related Function in Patients With Chronic Back Pain or Hip or Knee Osteoarthritis Pain: The SPACE Randomized Clinical Trial
Treatment with opioids was not superior to treatment with nonopioid medications for improving pain-related function over 12 months. Results do not support initiation of o …
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Medicare Is Cracking Down on Opioids. Doctors Fear Pain Patients Will Suffer. (Published 2018)
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Are opioids the best way to manage long-term pain? NPR's Ari Shapiro talked with Dr. Ajay Wasan, a pain specialist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, to find out.
For all their risks, opioids had no pain-relieving advantage in a yearlong clinical trial
In what researchers say is the first randomized clinical trial to make a head-to-head comparison of the long-term effects of two kinds of painkillers, patients taking opioids fared no better than patients taking other medications.
What if a Study Showed Opioids Weren’t Usually Needed?
‘Pragmatic trials’ differ from most research studies by focusing on effects in the real world.
Gene therapy for chronic pain relief
Turning off a particular gene prevented or alleviated chronic pain in mice. The results could lead to an alternative to opioids for treating chronic pain.