An over reliance on opioid therapy for pain management in Canada has some experts calling for better support for alternative treatments.
The calls come as the number of illicit drug overdose deaths due to opioids continues to surge in B.C. and across Canada, some of which have been linked to an addiction brought on by a prescription for painkillers.
Marc White, a UBC professor specializing in pain and disability, says there needs to be more education that pain is not simply treated with a pill, and other supports for patients are needed to manage pain in daily life.
B.C. family physician Dr. Kim Rutherford says more funding for non-drug treatments such as massage or physiotherapy is needed, because currently patients without extended health plans and who can't afford the therapies are missing out.
