Oxycontin, Vicodin, Other Narcotics Don’t Provide Long-Term Back Pain Relief, Study Suggests

By Keely Hyslop

Published on January 22, 2007

Dr. Bridget A. Martell conducted the research as an associate research professor at Yale University. She wrote the paper while she served as associate director for pharmaceutical company Pfizer’s New Haven Clinical Research Unit, a part of the company's Global Research and Development Division. Martell’s paper was published in the Jan. 16 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The study involved a meta-analysis of 38 published studies of the effects of prescription opioids. No significant data was uncovered to indicate the narcotics were more effective than placebos as a long-term treatment. Evidence showed that the drugs may provide short-term relief, however.

The likelihood of patients being prescribed one of the drugs involved in the study varied from three percent to 66 percent, based on medical setting. Specialty treatment centers were most likely to prescribe one of the medications, while primary-care centers were least likely.

The study advises patients to consider the risks before seeking a narcotic treatment for back pain. Suspicious medication-taking behaviors indicating the possible presence of addiction occurred in up to 24 percent of the analyzed cases.

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