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Letter: Opioid lawsuit targets good physicians

(Sue Ogrocki | The Associated Press) In this Aug. 5, 2010, file photo, a pharmacy technician poses for a picture with hydrocodone and acetaminophen tablets, also known as Vicodin, at the Oklahoma Hospital Discount Pharmacy in Edmond, Okla. Opioids including Vicodin and fentanyl patches worked no better than Tylenol and other over-the-counter pills at relieving chronic back pain and hip and knee arthritis in a year-long study of mostly men at Minneapolis VA clinics. Both groups had slight improvement.

I was appalled to read in yesterday’s Salt Lake Tribune that Summit County Attorney Margaret Olson is suing Perry Fine and Lynn Webster. She could not have picked two more inappropriate targets. Dr. Fine and Dr. Webster are recognized authorities in the management of difficult pain problems and as such are part of the solution to the opiate epidemic not part of the problem.

There is no doubt that our state and nation are in the midst of a severe opiate crisis and that forceful action is needed to combat it, but it is important to avoid overreaction. For some patients opioids are the only effective treatment for pain; they will be the victims if physicians are deterred from appropriate opiate prescribing by fear of legal consequences.

James P. Southwick, MD, Heber City