Specifically designed to address the needs of all specialists involved in the care of chronic pain patients, this source clarifies the ethical and legal issues associated with the diagnosis, assessment, and care of patients suffering from long-term pain. Divided into five comprehensive sections, this source covers a variety of topics to help the ch

Drug overdose, driven largely by overdose related to the use of opioids, is now the leading cause of unintentional injury death in the United States. The ongoing opioid crisis lies at the intersection of two public health challenges: reducing the burden of suffering from pain and containing the rising toll of the harms that can arise from the use of opioid medications. Chronic pain and opioid use disorder both represent complex human conditions affecting millions of Americans and causing untold disability and loss of function. In the context of the growing opioid problem, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched an Opioids Action Plan in early 2016. As part of this plan, the FDA asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to convene a committee to update the state of the science on pain research, care, and education and to identify actions the FDA and others can take to respond to the opioid epidemic, with a particular focus on informing FDA's development of a formal method for incorporating individual and societal considerations into its risk-benefit framework for opioid approval and monitoring.

This revised and updated edition explores the law relating to pain management in recent years.It considers the legal issues which have arisn in recent high-profile cases and discusses the implications of legisation extending prescribing powers. The text is written in a user-friendly, readable form for the non-lawyer. It aims to provide a succinct, useful basis from which practtioner and others can extend their knowledge of the law for the protection of their patients, their colleagues and themselves. Scope and contents Human rights law Criminal law and procedure Negligence Professional registration Consent in relation to adults, children and mentally disabled adults.

When the end of life makes its inevitable appearance, people should be able to expect reliable, humane, and effective caregiving. Yet too many dying people suffer unnecessarily. While an "overtreated" dying is feared, untreated pain or emotional abandonment are equally frightening. Approaching Death reflects a wide-ranging effort to understand what we know about care at the end of life, what we have yet to learn, and what we know but do not adequately apply. It seeks to build understanding of what constitutes good care for the dying and offers recommendations to decisionmakers that address specific barriers to achieving good care. This volume offers a profile of when, where, and how Americans die. It examines the dimensions of caring at the end of life: Determining diagnosis and prognosis and communicating these to patient and family. Establishing clinical and personal goals. Matching physical, psychological, spiritual, and practical care strategies to the patient's values and circumstances. Approaching Death considers the dying experience in hospitals, nursing homes, and other settings and the role of interdisciplinary teams and managed care. It offers perspectives on quality measurement and improvement, the role of practice guidelines, cost concerns, and legal issues such as assisted suicide. The book proposes how health professionals can become better prepared to care well for those who are dying and to understand that these are not patients for whom "nothing can be done."

This text covers the fundamentals of pain, the pharmacology of drugs used, and summarises the current evidence base for the management of acute pain. It provides practical direct clinical applications and strategies for the management of specific medical conditions in patient groups such as the elderly