Opioid Rehabilitation: When Pain Relief Becomes Dependence 32623

The first time I sat with a patient who had slid from prescribed pain relief into dependence, he brought a shoebox of pill bottles to his intake appointment. The labels told the story in neat pharmacy fonts: post-surgery oxycodone, then hydrocodone as a “step down,” then refills after a second injury, then a jump to fentanyl patches when his tolerance drug rehabilitation outpatient program cre