Addiction, Poor Care Drove N.H. Medicaid Patients to Shop Around for Opioids

NHPR - Quotes Gilbert Fanciullo, professor of anesthesiology and and director of pain management at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, about how providers are increasingly aware of the risks of opioids, but that many patients demand them. "Patients are coming into our offices and saying, 'I've tried everything, I still have this pain and I want it treated,'" Fanciullo says. "And it's very hard for some doctors to tell the patient, 'No.'" Fanciullo also comments on data from the state of New Hampshire, which found that the strength and number of opioids prescribed to some Medicaid patients who use multiple providers varied greatly from one pharmacy visit to the next. "There is no question that it is poor care, and there is no question that it is dangerous," says Fanciullo.