Though we’re still putting the finishing touches on the Spring issue of Pain Solutions – due out next month – we’re also hard at work on our Summer 2010 issue. One of the features in that issue is taking an in-depth look at why pain is so under-treated in the U.S.

In reading the article, written by veteran health reporter Jacqueline Stenson, I’ve learned that the answer to that question is complex – in fact, there isn’t just one answer. Then this week I read about a study at the Utah Department of Health and published in the Centers for Disease Control’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that relates to this question.

The study found that while patients are usually good (they say) about not overusing opioid painkillers (one of the myths that leads to under-treatment is that lots of people will abuse narcotic pain relievers so they shouldn’t be given the drugs, or given dosages that would adequately control their pain), their friends and relatives aren’t always so good about using the drugs properly.

The randomized telephone survey, conducted in 2008 among 5,300 adults in Utah, found that nearly 21% had gotten a prescription for an opioid analgesic in the preceding year (a rate that may be somewhat higher than the national average). Just over 70% received it to treat acute pain, while another 15% got the drug to ease long-term pain. Of those who got a strong painkiller, 72% had some drug left over after treating their pain and the great majority kept the leftover drugs on hand for personal use.

In a somewhat surprising turn, almost 2% of those surveyed said they had taken an opioid medication that hadn’t been prescribed for them and in almost every case they got it (most of the time willingly, though in some cases it was stolen) from a friend or relative who had been prescribed the medication.

That’s a bad idea. In reporting on the Utah study, Pain-topics.org notes that overdoses from drug misuse have risen over the past decade. Most of the time a friend or family member used the leftover medication it was to treat pain (vs. recreational use), but this also speaks to the chronic problem of untreated and under-treated pain. Did these friends and relatives use the drugs because they couldn't get them elsewhere, through proper channels? It's a problem without simple answers.

If you’re in doubt about how to dispose of leftover, unused medications, check out this guide from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

What are your thoughts on the question of under- and untreated pain in the U.S.? Have you ever shared your prescription pain medication with a friend or relative? If so, what were the circumstances?