ABSTRACT
The interface among physicians, regulatory boards, and law enforcement is a critical part of any practice; however, it takes on an added importance for practitioners working in the treatment of chronic pain. Specifically, many of the medications used to treat pain are also those most frequently abused and associated with drug addiction. Because of historical conflict between regulators and the practice of medicine, and the turn-of-the-century problems with iatrogenic addiction, careful consideration should be given to the role of developing shared understandings and overlapping consensus with regulators. In this chapter, the general features of this understanding are presented, as well as guidelines for both working with regulatory agencies and also staying out of trouble with them.
