OPIOIDS PRESCRIBING
These medications include Morphine, Codeine, Hydromorphone/Dilaudid, Oxycodone/Supeudol/Percocet, and others. These powerful pain-killing medications may have an important role to play in the treatment of acute pain or pain arising from cancer, but often they actually do more harm than good when treating chronic pain. Not only do these medications have significant side effects such as constipation, drowsiness, and even reducing you drive to breathe (a potentially fatal side effect), but over time, the body becomes dependent on these potent medications. This means higher and higher doses are required for the same level of pain control.
The risk of addiction is high for these medications. For these reasons, the doctors of Denman Island Medical Clinic will only prescribe opioids under very strict circumstances, and for as short a time as possible.
Patients who are currently on long term opioids for chronic non-cancer pain will have their opioid medications reviewed on a regular basis by their family doctors. The doctors will periodically try to reduce these medications to the lowest possible dose, and preferably discontinue them completely. The doctors have a right and responsibility to stop prescribing controlled substances to patients at any time if they feel the medications are not being used appropriately.
Any patient who is on long term opioid medications will need to have what is called an Opioid Contract reviewed and signed with their family doctor. The Opioid Contract is designed to outline the risks and possible benefits of using opioid medications, and designed to let patients and doctors know when the opioids need to be discontinued or stopped. Reasons for discontinuing opioid medications are many, but can include lack of benefit, serious side effects, or evidence of developing addiction. Regardless of whether opioids are or are not used, our patients can rest assured that their pain will be treated to the best that medicine has to offer.