Does concern about regulatory sanctions affect your prescribing of opiates?

Some pain specialists say physicians have been scaling back their prescribing of opiates or not prescribing them at all for fear of being sanctioned by state medical boards and other governmental agencies, such as the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The result is undertreated pain in patients for whom opiates are medically necessary. The amount of opiates physicians prescribe likely varies by specialty, but virtually all licensed doctors have some patients who need the medications.

Renal & Urology News would like to know whether concerns about regulatory sanctions affect opiate prescribing behavior among nephrologists and urologists, so please answer the following poll question.