The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) directed the Veterans Health Administration to combat the opioid crisis through integrative approaches. The data is in—and it's transformative.
The language we use shapes the care we provide—and the word "chronic" may be quietly undermining our urgency when patients need it most.
When a physician tells a patient "there's nothing wrong with you," a statement that contradicts her lived reality, we now know it actively worsens her prognosis.
For relief, patients and providers turn to Interventional Pain Medicine (IPM)—like epidural steroid injections, nerve blocks, and neuromodulation. IPM is powerful, but it is not a magic bullet for everyone.
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