The Emergence of CBD in the Medical Field,
a Secondary Consequence from the Opioid Crisis
In the last United States HHS assessment,
it was estimated that
20% or 50 million men and women
in the US suffer from chronic
pain. For those of us that either
treat chronic pain or suffer from
it, the regulatory landscape has
vastly changed in the last decade.
The focus of one aspect of chronic
pain management has long been
the prescribing of opioids for severe,
refractory pain syndromes.
Many different formulations and
delivery methods of oxycodone,
hydrocodone, morphine, fentanyl
and others flourished in the pharmacologic
marketplace, reaping a
huge financial windfall for big
pharma.
As the US devolved into the opioid
crisis in the last 5 years, one
of the points of blame was the
rapid proliferation of opioid medications.
Whether taken responsibly, or diverted
and tampered with, the
supposition was that the breadth
of exposure to opioids had, in
part, fueled the opioid crisis. Practically
speaking, this resulted in
skyrocketing opioid-related hospitalizations
and deaths. State and
federal narratives included data
showing exposure to opioids even
for a short period of time statistically
increased the possibility of
addiction.
Generally, prescriptions for opioids
have decreased since 2012.
In addition to the general decrease,
significant private insurance
and Medicare/Medicaid regulation
of opioid prescribing have
occurred over the last few years.
For Dr’s Julian Grove M.D. and
Peter Kubitz D.O., owners of
Pain Consultants of Arizona
(based in Phoenix, Chandler and
Scottsdale), it was easy to see
that their specialty had started to
undergo a seismic shift. “Our focus
was never solely on opioids,
however it was apparent that we
needed to look to other sources
for potential pain relief for our
medical management patients”.
Pain management, as a specialty,
is led by either anesthesiologists
(Dr. Grove) or physical medicine
and rehabilitation doctors (Dr.
Kubitz) who have concentrated
their efforts on exclusively handling
the most difficult patients
with various pain issues (trauma,
burns, amputation, spine pain,
cancer etc.). Training for a typical
with Dr. JJ Grove and Peter Kubitz D.O.
42—iPain Living Magazine