Pain and the courtroom--paving the way for a long-overdue showdown.

We all know that statistics do not tell the whole story, yet I believe you will find that Goldenbaum et al. are on the right track with the statistics and conclusions presented in their article Physician’s Charged with Opioid-Analgesic Prescribing Offenses. The article describes the “big picture” relating to the characteristics and outcomes of criminal and administrative cases against physicians and opioidprescribing behaviors. The article presents the study data in a variety of ways and uniquely uses three scenarios to provide readers with some valuable guidance on the patterns and challenges that might increase a prescriber’s exposure to criminal and/or administrative lawsuits. Goldenbaum et al. conclude that their statistics show “practicing physicians, including pain medicine specialists, have little objective cause for concern about being prosecuted by law enforcement or disciplined by state medical boards . . .” I applaud the authors for their tremendous contribution to the pain community, which goes well beyond the written word. I believe this article offers tremendous insight, focus for future research strategies, and most of all, hope for the pain community in its efforts to achieve the principles of balance defined by Joranson and Gilson [1].