Plummer's case thus highlights a broader misfortune: that so many citizens of developing countries are denied effective pain relief by governments in the grip of
opiophobia.
This is related to the older concept of
opiophobia (fear of
25) The main reason for not prescribing these drugs is still
opiophobia among health professionals.
Auret and Schug (2005) defined
opiophobia as "customary underutilization of opioid analgesia based on irrational and undocumented fear" (p.
Trainees may also adopt beliefs that contribute to
opiophobia.
71) Charles von Guten, appearing in Short Film 4: Opiophobia, Life Before Death, http://www.
530 (2006); Annemarie Daly Linares, Opioid Pseudoaddiction: A Casualty of the War on Drugs, Racism, Sexism and Opiophobia, 15 QUINNIPIAC HEALTH L.
Goldberg, On the Erroneous Conflation of Opiophobia and the Undertreatment of Pain, 10 AM.
Clinician skepticism toward patients complaining of chronic pain can promote stigmatization,
opiophobia (fear of using opioids related to the stigma surrounding their use), and undertreatment of legitimate problems (Brennan et al.
I take full responsibility for my problem," he declared, while blaming his situation on "highly addictive medication" (thereby reinforcing the
opiophobia that has led to scandalous undertreatment of pain in this country).
In medical journals and textbooks, the cause of this misery has a name: opiophobia.
Clinicians and researchers have long remarked on the link between opiophobia and undertreatment of pain.
