Prescription Opiate Medications

Abstract

<p>Prescription opiate medications are controlled substances under United States law because of intrinsic characteristics that render them both medically useful and dangerously harmful to patients. However, the warnings derived from the experience and laws about the potential dangers and toxicity of prescription opiate medications were lost due to strong political pressure and aggressive pharmaceutical marketing directed toward physicians to prescribe them widely for all types of pain complaints and other conditions in clinical populations. Despite the pressure from the “pain movement” to rationalize away these medications’ biologically addictive qualities, we are witnessing epidemic proportions of addiction to prescription opiate medications at alarming rates in all clinical populations, with predictable adverse consequences.</p> <h4>ABOUT THE GUEST EDITOR</h4> <p>Norman S. Miller, MD, JD is clinical professor of medicine, Department of Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI. He also has been professor of psychiatry and director of addiction medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Michigan State University. He has board certification in psychiatry, neurology, forensic psychiatry, and addiction psychiatry, and certification in addiction medicine.</p> <p>A graduate of the Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, DC, Dr. Miller served a residency in psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore, MD, and a residency in neurology and fellowship in clinical pharmacology at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. He also obtained a Juris Doctorate from the Michigan State University College of Law.</p> <p>Dr. Miller has published more than 250 articles in medical journals and edited or authored 11 medical texts. His current focus includes research and scholarly publications on prescription medication problems and providing expert testimony in medical legal medicine. He is also a member of the <cite>Psychiatric Annals</cite> Editorial Advisory Board.</p>