Steven A. King, MD, MS

March 19, 2015

Up to 50% of patients taking opioids for an extended period develop constipation. Patient education and basic prevention can help mitigate the side effect.

February 21, 2015

An estimated 10% to 20% of women experience major depression during pregnancy. Opioids could double that trouble.

January 16, 2015

Best practices make a strong case against prescribing benzodiazepines for chronic pain patients taking opioids. But are we following best practices?

November 22, 2014

A new study found that alcohol was involved in more than 20% of both opioid- and benzodiazepine-related deaths reported to the Drug Abuse Warning Network in 2010.

October 22, 2014

Difficulty with sleep is a common problem for people with chronic pain. Plus, it is well known that while pain medications cause sedation, they can also disrupt normal sleep cycles.

September 26, 2014

Deaths from opioid overdoses routinely claim headlines but nearly as many fatalities are caused each year by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Who's tracking trouble under the radar?

August 21, 2014

The results of several recent studies on both drug classes may come as a surprise. Will they change the way you prescribe either or both for pain?

July 22, 2014

The answer to this question has long been considered to be, "yes" and for what seem to be logical reasons related to the nature of chronic pain. But, where's the science to support the belief?

June 20, 2014

Three new opioid analgesics that purport to offer benefits that current products lack come with marketing messages that ring both contradictory and redundant.

May 15, 2014

Controversy around FDA approval of an extended-release formulation of the opioid hydrocodone includes well-founded concerns about abuse but also exposes enduring ignorance about opioid analgesics in general.