Cancer patients are being given morphine just WEEKS before they die despite ‘enduring intense pain for months’
- Study assessed fate of 6,080 patients who died between 2005 and 2012
- Time between first prescription and death was only nine weeks on average
- Over-60s were more likely to be given painkillers late than younger people
- Those who died in a hospice were likelier to have been offered them earlier
Stephen Matthews For Mailonline
57
View
comments
Doctors are waiting too long before giving patients with advanced cancer pain relief, new research suggests.
Terminally ill patients are often not prescribed powerful opioid painkillers, such as morphine, until just nine weeks before their death, a study found.
Many of them will have been suffering pain over a much longer period of time, experts say.
Terminally ill patients are often not prescribed powerful opioid painkillers, such as morphine, until just nine weeks before their death, a study found
Researchers from the University of Leeds used medical records to investigate the fate of 6,080 patients who died between 2005 and 2012.
They found 48 per cent of the patients were issued prescriptions for morphine and other opioid painkillers during the last year of their lives.
Typically the time interval between first prescription and death was only nine weeks.
But late diagnosis could not explain the delay, the researchers said.
-
Scientists grow tiny pea-sized ‘human lungs’ in the…
Young child seriously ill in hospital in latest outbreak of…
‘I’d rather I died trying than on a waiting list’: Engineer…
The woman whose ONE STONE arm won’t stop growing: Mother…
On average, patients were diagnosed with their disease long before receiving opioids.
Lead researcher Dr Lucy Ziegler said: ‘We have identified for the first time the relatively late onset and short duration of strong opioid treatment in cancer patients prior to death.
‘This pattern of prescribing does not match population data which points to earlier onset of pain.
‘Nine weeks before death is considered late in the course of the cancer trajectory.’
Over-60s were more likely to be prescribed opioid painkillers such as morphine later than younger patients, researchers discovered
She added: ‘Although the prevalence of pain is higher in patients with advanced cancer and towards the end of life, for many patients pain is experienced at many stages throughout the illness.
‘In fact, pain is the most common presenting symptom at diagnosis.
‘Our research highlights the need to prioritise earlier access to effective pain management for patients with advanced cancer.’
AN END TO MORPHINE?
Morphine may finally be sidelined in favour of a new safer painkiller, scientists claimed last month.
Researchers have spent decades searching for a safer non-addictive alternative to the potentially lethal opium.
Despite its dangers, no other drug has ever rivaled its efficient pain-numbing qualities.
But a study identified a compound that could do the trick – without the lethal side-effects.
The study also found over-60s were more likely to be prescribed painkillers late than younger patients.
Cancer sufferers who died in a hospice, rather than in hospital, at home or in a care home, were more likely to have been offered the drugs earlier.
One explanation could be concern over the so-called ‘opioid epidemic’ – the over-use of potentially addictive opioid drugs, said the researchers.
NHS data showed that between 2000 and 2010 overall opioid prescribing soared by 466 per cent. However, it only increased by 16 per cent for cancer patients.
Previous studies have found that up to 86 per cent of patients with advanced cancer will experience pain.
‘Within the advanced cancer population there is a need to develop mechanisms to improve pain assessment and initiate a more proactive approach to prescribing, particularly for older patients,’ said Dr Ziegler.
‘Effective pain control is fundamental to good quality of life.
‘For patients who are approaching the end of their lives it is crucially important we strive to get this right and that we help them achieve the best quality of life possible.’
The findings were published in the journal Pain.
Share or comment on this article
-
e-mail
Most watched News videos
-
Syrian rebel takes selfie with phone rigged to bomb -
Gang of neo-Nazis in vicious street fight with migrants in Germany -
Epic moment Trump allows Jimmy Fallon to mess up his hair -
Prisoner appears to headbutt guard moments before execution -
Prince William rushes to the aid of veteran who takes tumble -
Mob of students angry over cultural appropriation email -
Moment woman uses hijab to shoplift and gets caught in the act -
Clashes in Germany between far-right protesters and refugees -
Video shows road rage between school bus and FedEx truck in NJ -
Woman’s shock as police shoot dog dead while attending home -
Model’s nipples send internet into frenzy during QVC clip -
Protester grabs microphone at Tim Kaine rally in New Hampshire
-
Germany torn apart: Mob of 100 neo-Nazis in vicious brawl…
-
Photo bomb: Syrian rebel accidentally blows himself and his…
-
Do trees have brains and talk to each other? They are…
-
BREAKING: Nick Gordon found responsible for wrongful death…
-
Horror as architect, 52, falls 48 floors to his death from…
-
Italian woman commits suicide after sending taunting video…
-
Jimmy Fallon vs Trump’s hair: Tonight Show host persuades…
-
The angel of the World Trade Center: Photographer captures…
-
Horrifically burned drunk driver turns himself in after he…
-
New video shows mob of Yale students encircling professor…
-
Homeless man attacks New York cops with a MEAT CLEAVER:…
-
EXCLUSIVE ‘I was just doing my job.. maybe now they’ll give…
Comments (57)
Share what you think
-
Newest -
Oldest -
Best rated -
Worst rated
The comments below have not been moderated.
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.
Find out now