Did you know that your chances of developing an opiate or opioid addiction might depend partly on the doctor you see? According to physicians Michael Barnett and Anupam B. Jena, the behaviors of physicians might lead to such consequences for their patients.

In an editorial for the Los Angeles Times, the physicians discuss how they studied insurance records of Medicare patients who sought medical assistance in emergency rooms.

After studying such records, Barnett and Jena found that there are few guidelines when prescribing opiate drugs, even though the drugs are powerful and could easily lead to addiction. They also found that doctors varied widely regarding how many pills to prescribe and their dosage.

They argue that this is part because there aren’t established guidelines for treating pain, unlike the more established suggestions for treating conditions like heart disease. They say that many times, doctors learn pain management techniques on the job by observing how other doctors treat their patients’ pain.

This technique could be dangerous, because pain is a complicated condition and patients are equally complicated. Wouldn’t it be better to know more about patients to treat their pain instead of relying on a tried-and-true, one-size-fits-all paradigm of pain management, with only one way to treat a problem that can really have several solutions?

Because of the power and potential danger of drugs like opiates, Barnett and Jena suggest that medical schools provide doctors and other medical professionals more information about opiates. They suggested the creation of evaluation systems that track how physicians prescribe opiates and the effectiveness of these prescriptions.

Barnett and Jena also say that patients should learn more about opiates and other prescription drugs. They suggest that patients ask doctors if there are alternatives to opiates, ask if they can take them for shorter periods of time, or ask for lesser amounts of the drugs.

According to Barnett and Jena, knowing about opiates might be a good step in preventing addiction.