Life after opioids: 'We have not served our patients well'

More than 3 million Australians are living with chronic pain, and the medical system is struggling to help them as it turns away from its reliance on opioids

Read part one of this series here

"Right out of the gate," says Prof Beth Darnall. "Number one rule: first do no harm." It is the core commitment of the medical profession. But for many chronic pain patients swept up in a tide of opioid overprescription, the Stanford pain psychologist believes the system failed to uphold this oath.

And now, as the world grapples with weaning itself off a deadly epidemic of opioid overuse, the question is: are we letting those people down again?