Pain is a common symptom in patients with serious illness or at end of life. Oftentimes, pain is severe and requires opioids to manage it. Prescribing opioids in the current landscape presents dynamic challenges in the setting of the opioid crisis and the related social and regulatory changes regarding opioid use. Palliative care patients at any stage in their disease trajectory

deserve adequate pain management as well as optimal safety when it comes to opioid prescribing. In this course, we will discuss the impact and consideration of the opioid crisis on opioid prescribing for patients receiving palliative care. Patient cases will be used to highlight best practices in opioid prescribing for patients at different points along the palliative care trajectory and with different risk factors for opioid misuse.