BANGOR, Maine - Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins led a hearing in Washington Wednesday on opioid addiction and abuse among older patients.
The issue, she said, is especially complex, because many seniors do suffer from severe chronic pain conditions. "For these older Americans, prompt delivery of pain control is a medical imperative."
But Collins said there are indications that abuse is occurring among older patients, and that the amount of these drugs in society is contributing to an opioid epidemic.
Collins also said that, in an attempt to meet Medicare standards, providers at may be over prescribing.
"The government's current practice of linking certain quality measures to patient satisfaction with the control of their pain, may inadvertently reward opiate prescribing even when it is not warranted."
In response, Sean Cavanaugh, deputy administrator and director of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said CMS was open to perhaps rephrasing patient survey questions to try and avoid this effect.
Collins said the hearing was designed to open a thoughtful dialog on a complicated problem.
