FDA Encourages MDs to Learn About Chiropractic & Acupuncture

In an effort to combat the opioid epidemic, the medical community as a whole is reevaluating how medications are used and when other options may be effective.  As part of this effort, the FDA issued the “FDA Blueprint for Prescriber Education for Extended-Release and Long-Acting Opioids” in April with draft revisions being issued the following month.  This document is to help educate health care providers about how these dangerous medicines should be used properly.   The original document includes the directive “Prescribers should caution patients and caregivers that ER/LA opioid analgesics can cause serious side effects that can lead to death, even when used as recommended.”

While the original document focuses on the medications, the proposed revisions include directives to explore nonpharmacologic therapies.  It states: “A number of nonpharmacologic therapies are available that can play an important role in managing pain, particularly musculoskeletal pain and chronic pain.”  Among the examples listed are acupuncture and chiropractic.  The FDA continues: “[Health Care Providers] should be knowledgeable about the range of available therapies, when they may be helpful, and when they should be used as part of a multidisciplinary approach to pain management.”

With their extensive training in the musculoskeletal system, chiropractors are a natural option to pain relief.  The proven safety and efficacy is now being acknowledged not only in alternative health circles, but now by mainstream modern Western medicine and health organizations working to solve the opioid epidemic like the Federal Drug Administration, among others.

If you are experiencing musculoskeletal pain or chronic pain, try #chiropractic1st.  You may be surprised at how soon you can be feeling relief and getting back to an active lifestyle.

 

SOURCE: FDA Education Blueprint for Health Care Providers Involved in the Management or Support of Patients with Pain  (May 2017) (Draft Revisions to FDA Blueprint for Prescriber Education  for Extended-Release and Long-Acting Opioids)