title: Caveat emptor: a critical analysis of the costs of drugs used for pain management.
abstract: With the cost of prescription drugs rising at three times the rate of other products, nurses can play a principal role in assisting clients and communities to ask critical questions regarding the costs and benefits of pharmacologic therapies. Building on an expanded view of client and environment, this article applies the process and concepts of critical social theory to critique the ideologic, social, political, and economic conditions contributing to tensions between quality and costs using pain-relieving drugs as a clinical example. Implications and strategies for nursing in the research and practice arenas are also proposed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, School of Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle.
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Wild
mesh_terms: D000700:Analgesics / Q000191:economics*; D015400:Clinical Nursing Research; D006801:Humans; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics* / Q000451:nursing; D011057:Politics; D011306:Prescription Fees / Q000639:trends*; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000191:economics; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D012961:Sociology; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics