Prescribing opioid analgesics in general practice

This publication questions the practices of general practitioners (GPs) administering initial prescriptions of analgesic opioid medicines in a context of increasing prescriptions of analgesic opioid medicines in the treatment of chronic pain unrelated to cancer over the past ten years, and in connection with the implementation of a pain control policy in France. 

How do they prescribe opioid analgesics? How do they deal with situations deemed "problematic"? The sociological analysis presented is based on the testimony of 23 general practitioners practising in different organisational contexts.