Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to all of the witnesses today, those on the screen and those who are here at committee this afternoon.
First I will allow myself a comment. We're doing this study on prescription drug abuse, and really, a lot of the witnesses during the meetings are focusing on opioids and pain medication. So far we've left aside others, but it would be good to know what the impact is of other medications that are misused, abused, or overused.
Since all four witnesses today deal with issues relevant to pain, my first question is this. And I'm not directing my question to anybody in particular. On the one hand, a doctor sees people who need treatment for pain, whether it's chronic pain or it's pain that occurs once in a while. Some people suffer from migraines once in a while and they can't function. The doctor is faced with the problem of giving some kind of pain relief to the patient. How do you strike the proper balance so that you as a doctor or a medical practitioner don't over-prescribe, or don't prescribe what is not needed, and then the right treatment is used? I guess sometimes the easiest way is to just prescribe the pain medication, and it's probably the easiest for the patient, because the pain goes away usually very rapidly.
Could you maybe expand on this? Where do you strike the balance?
That's for anybody.