Unmet Needs in OIC Management
Gerald Sacks, MD, and Fariborz Rezai, MD, FCCP FCCM, discuss unmet needs and the future treatment landscape in managing opioid-induced constipation. Dr Gerald M Sacks , MD: What I see as the major unmet need in the management of opioid-induced constipation [OIC] is the general unawareness that opioid-induced constipation is common and can be prevented and treated effectively using medications we have. The most common unmet need that I see is that health care professionals, physicians, nurse practitioners, and PAs [physician assistants], either don’t have the time or don’t have the knowledge base to effectively discuss opioid-induced constipation with their patients who are being prescribed opioids. I find that I spend a lot of my time educating my peer group, other health care professionals, nurse practitioners, PAs, physicians, and DOs [doctors of osteopathic medicine]. I find myself educating this group of people to better understand that when they are prescribing an opioid to treat ...