Under the belly of the opioid crisis: The forgotten patients

The opioid crisis has captured significant media attention in British Columbia. Underneath the headlines, however, there is also an ongoing pain crisis, with one in five Canadians living with chronic pain. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia recently released new guidelines to reduce opioid over-prescribing, however this has had unintended consequences for some patients living with pain who are long-term opioid users. We need to ensure our efforts to curb opioid over-prescribing do not harm patients, and strive to provide improved, multidisciplinary pain management for all patients by improving access to non-pharmaceutical therapies and expanding physician pain education.