Caregivers or Drug Pushers?: An Examination of Medical Practitioner Stigma and Empathic Communication towards Opioid Abuse

Abstract

The opioid crisis has reached a boiling point in Tennessee. As a result, a comprehensive plan, entitled TN Together, was launched by the State of Tennessee to address the growing epidemic. However, an area remarkably overlooked by the plan is patient practitioner communication, which is an underlying cause of the opioid crisis. This study analyzes the extent of stigmatization demonstrated by medical practitioners towards patients they suspect of opioid abuse and examines its effect on empathic communication.