STAT+: Years into an addiction crisis, a med school lecture still minimized opioid risks
A university in Florida has been criticized for allowing a lecture that conveyed “false and misleading” information about the use of prescription painkillers.
Amid ongoing concern over opioid addiction, a university in Florida has been criticized for allowing a lecture that conveyed “false and misleading” information about the use of the prescription painkillers by a local physician who, in years past, had ties to opioid makers.
At issue was a lecture that was given last October at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., by Martin Hale, an orthopedic surgeon, to first-year medical students about managing pain. During his talk, Hale provided an overview of opioids and the challenges facing physicians, such as approaches to treatment and issues surrounding addiction.
However, a few of his slides prompted criticism from a professor at the university and a pair of organizations that monitor the pharmaceutical industry. In their view, Hale minimized the risk of opioids, falsely implied that addiction to prescription opioids is rare, and mentioned pseudo-addiction, a controversial notion that has never been granted an official diagnosis by the medical community.
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