Fighting Pain and Addiction for Veterans

Last year, more than 130 Americans died each day from a drug overdose involving an opioid. Veterans are twice as likely to die of the same. But there is some good news: The Department of Veterans Affairs is a recognized leader in pain management and opioid safety, and its success in reducing the use of opioids can be emulated by other health systems through VA’s proven strategies.

Severe pain is 40 percent more common in veterans compared to non-veterans. Nearly 60 percent of veterans who have served in the Middle East and more than 50 percent of older veterans live with some form of chronic pain.

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Full article on newsday.com by By Robert Wilkie, InsideSources.com