Chronic nonmalignant pain, which affects millions of people, is the most common reason patients seek medical care. Both current and potential opioid analgesics are discussed, along with new technologies used to prevent abuse.

BACKGROUND The use of opioid analgesics for patients with chronic nonmalignant pain is becoming more widely accepted, and long-acting formulations are an important treatment option. AIM To assess conversion to extended-release OROS hydromorphone from previous stable opioid agonist therapy in patients with chronic nonmalignant pain of moderate-to-severe intensity. METHODS In this open-label ...

Studies concerning drugs of abuse have made major contributions in defining the circuitry, as well as cellular and molecular substrates that underlie certain behaviors. Opiate drugs for example, have revealed important insights concerning pain perception and reward. Up to the late 1960s, opiate drugs were suspected to work by mysteriously perturbing lipid membrane structure. We now know the fol...