Of the British primary care physicians, 60% expressed reservations regarding the efficacy of available therapies. The other major barriers cited to good control of chronic pain were treatment side effects and patient compliance (Curr. Med. Res. Opin. 2003;19:703–6).
Although CombinatoRx is engaged in developing new agents for the treatment of osteoarthritis and other chronic inflammatory diseases, Dr. Moore said he thinks the systematic use of additive combinations of current osteoarthritis pain medications has been a neglected and potentially rewarding area.
“We need pragmatic research of well-designed care pathways,” the pain specialist argued.