Bottom Line Summary

Opioid Therapy for Chronic Non-Malignant Pain

Release Date: June 1, 2015

Long term opioid therapy for non-malignant pain is associated with an increased risk of harm while benefits remain unknown. Additional studies are needed to better determine the balance of benefit and harm.

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Written by the Evidence-Based Medicine Task Force

• M.E. Beth Smith, DO
• KoKo Aung, MD, MPH
• Zackary Berger, MD, PhD
• Rebecca J. Beyth, MD, MSc
• Michael Bowen, MD, MPH
• Ricardo Correa, MD, EsD
• Daniel Elliott, MD, MSCE
• Heather Sateia, MD
• James Yeh, MD
• Daniella Zipkin MD

 The Bottom Line summaries reflect the expertise and opinions of the SGIM EBM Task Force as of the date of release of this summary.