Opioids and Paternalism: TO HELP END THE CRISIS, BOTH DOCTORS AND PATIENTS NEED TO FIND A NEW WAY TO THINK ABOUT PAIN.

The article presents the author's views on the need to find new ways to deal with pain to end the practice of life-long taking of low-dose narcotic for pain relief as of October 2017. Topics include the proliferation of opioid use in the U.S. that has become an epidemic, the need for old-fashioned paternalism in medical care, and physicians' views on pain. Also discussed are the factors that contributed to opioid dependence, the existence of symptoms without disease, and the Gulf War syndrome.