In Context
Opioid Alternatives Face an Uphill Battle Against Insurers and Doctors
Despite their dismal reputation, the aging painkillers are cheap and work better than nonaddictive replacements.
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Opioids. They’re a public-health pariah, leading to more than 80,000 overdose deaths a year. Patients worry they’ll get addicted to them. Doctors want nothing to do with them. And politicians of all stripes are calling for less dangerous options for treating pain.
“We are looking for absolutely anything that’s not an opioid,” says Seth Waldman, an anesthesiologist and director of pain management at Hospital for Special Surgery, a top orthopedic medicine center.