Opioid Pill Peddling Case Threatens Future of Pain Treatment
Doctors are increasingly reluctant to prescribe opioids for pain treatment amid soaring addiction rates and fear of liability as two physicians face allegations of pill peddling in a case before the Supreme Court, policy experts say.
Xiulu Ruan and Shakeel Kahn are facing over two decades of prison time for allegedly operating like drug dealers with opioid prescriptions. Their fate hinges on how far the justices believe the government should go in proving a doctor s criminal intent a thorny issue at the divide between substance use disorder and the need to treat pain.
A Supreme Court decision is expected in the next several months. Nearly a dozen physician, treatment, and legal advocacy groups have filed briefs backing at least one of the doctors, warning the justices of a medical climate where doctors neglect appropriate pain treatment in fear of incarceration and other severe punishment.
Lawyers and medical experts likewise say the case contributes to a years-long unease around opioid pain treatment in the medical community, where strict policies around record keeping and dosage paint both doctor and patient as potentially untrustworthy.
That mood could exacerbate addiction and other issues attached to drug use, and the outcome at the Supreme Court could impact whether people desperate for pain treatment turn to doctors or drug dealers.