Changes in pain management have led to a handful of lawsuits in the USA accusing doctors of undermedicating pain. One case is the first in the nation to charge a doctor with elder abuse for alleged undermedicating. The children of the 85-year-old who died of lung cancer, are suing his doctor for failing to prescribe enough painkillers to ease the torment of his final days.
There is finally an understanding that the biggest drug problem we have is with the undertreatment of pain.
There are currently no consequences for abandoning patients to their pain, unlike perceived consequences for being seen as an excessive prescriber.