By Dr. Andre Chen The growing opioid epidemic lies between two major intersections: reducing the suffering of chronic pain patients and reducing the risk of opioid addiction. Our successful opioid stewardship program delegates the appropriate use of addiction management to improve patient outcomes and reduce the complications of opioid therapy. Good Intentions Lead To The Prescription Opioid Epidemic Beginning in the mid-1990s, US health practitioners gradually increased the use of prescription opioids with a good intention to help manage a crisis of untreated chronic pain and provide better access to pain control, often for cancer or at the end of life. Before that, doctors