TY - JOUR T1 - Drugs for chronic pain: we still need them JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 172 LP - 172 DO - 10.3399/bjgp21X715457 VL - 71 IS - 705 AU - Blair H Smith AU - Lesley A Colvin AU - Angela Donaldson-Bruce AU - Audrey Birt Y1 - 2021/04/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/71/705/172.abstract N2 - We note the concerns expressed by Abdel Shaheed et al in their recent editorial ‘Drugs for Chronic Pain’.1 They expressed important anxieties about the availability of pharmacological options for GPs treating chronic pain, which will be restricted if the current draft National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline is implemented.2 Their concerns include: conclusions, drawn by NICE, based on inconsistent application of the International Classification of Diseases eleventh revision (ICD-11) definition of ‘chronic primary pain’; andfailure to apply this definition at all to the evidence they reviewed.As clinicians treating chronic pain, people living with chronic pain, and advisors on relevant national policy, we share these concerns, and add the following observations: Lack of evidence of effectiveness at population level does not equate to lack of effectiveness for all individuals. As Andrew Moore … ER -