Opioids for chronic nonmalignant pain. Attitudes and practices of primary care physicians in the UCSF/Stanford Collaborative Research Network. University of California, San Francisco.

Abstract

Primary care physicians are willing to prescribe schedule III opioids as needed, but many are unwilling to use schedule II opioids around the clock for CNMP. Individual prescribing practices vary widely among primary care physicians. Concerns about physical dependence, tolerance, and addiction are barriers to the prescription of opioids by primary care physicians for patients with CNMP.