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Clinical Approaches to Hospital Medicine pp 181–200Cite as

Solving America’s Prescription Epidemic: Pathophysiology, Ethics, Chronic Pain, and Addiction

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Abstract

Hospital medicine physicians need to play a role in the reversal of America’s prescription epidemic. Crucial to this effort is a thorough understanding of the pathophysiology of addiction and pain; the origin of the epidemic; the treatment of chronic pain, addiction, and corresponding mental illness; and the current strategy that is unfolding to solve this crisis. The hospitalist role will be to coordinate care with other providers, make long-term treatment care plans, withdraw patients from opioids, and participate with system administrators to make the necessary healthcare system organizational changes.

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Suggested Learning

  1. TED: The Hardest Pill to Swallow. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlec4V8p6y4&sns=em.

  2. TED: Why Things Hurt. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwd-wLdIHjs&sns=em.

  3. TED: Pain, Is it All in Your Mind? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiwmVTScusg&sns=em.s.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hospital Medicine, Ochsner Health System, 1524 Jefferson Highway, New Orleans, LA, 70121, USA

    Marianne Maumus

Authors
  1. Marianne Maumus
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Correspondence to Marianne Maumus .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Director of Community Affairs and Health Policy, Ochsner Health Systems, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

    Kevin Conrad

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© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

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Maumus, M. (2018). Solving America’s Prescription Epidemic: Pathophysiology, Ethics, Chronic Pain, and Addiction. In: Conrad, K. (eds) Clinical Approaches to Hospital Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64774-6_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64774-6_13

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-64773-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-64774-6

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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