Looking back at 2024, there was a lot of news to cover about chronic pain and illness. Access to opioids and new pain treatments were two issues that readers were most interested in over the last year. Listed here are the top 6 most widely read articles that PNN published in 2024, a year that saw us reach nearly 550,000 readers around the world.
Many Doctors Hesitant to Accept Patients Using Opioids or Cannabis
This article delved into research at the University of Michigan showing that many primary care doctors are reluctant to accept new patients who use either opioids or cannabis.
Of the 852 physicians surveyed, nearly a third (32%) said they would not accept a patient using opioids daily, while 18% felt the same way about patients using medical cannabis.
“This lack of access could inadvertently encourage patients to seek nonmedical treatments for their chronic pain, given that relief of pain is the most commonly reported reason for misuse of controlled substances,” said lead author Mark Bicket, MD.
Read the full article here.