Model policy for the use of controlled substances for the treatment of pain.

The Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States published Model Guideline for the Use of Controlled Substances in the Management of Pain in 1998 and expanded it to this Model Policy in October 2004. The Model Policy is designed to communicate to licensees that the state medical board views pain management to be important and integral to the practice of medicine; that opioid analgesics may be necessary for the relief of pain; that the use of opioids for other than legitimate medical purposes poses a threat to the individual and society; that physicians have a responsibility to minimize the potential for the abuse and diversion of controlled substances; and that physicians will not be sanctioned solely for prescribing opioid analgesics for legitimate medical purposes.