Findings of Systematic Reviews Summarizing the State of Evidence on the Effectiveness of Treatments for Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions

Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved very few treatments specific to Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions (COPCs), hundreds of therapies are used off-label to manage the conditions. This is both good and bad news. On one hand, there is a large selection of therapies to consider and test – either alone or in combination with other treatments – to identify a treatment plan that helps to reduce painful symptoms and improve quality of life. On the other hand, without data to know which will be safe and effective for each individual, patients typically spend months to years experimenting with different treatments to identify those that are helpful and not harmful.

This section reviews findings of systematic reviews on the poor state of scientific evidence on the efficacy of treatments for COPCs.

One of CPRA’s legislative and research priorities is to advance a comprehensive and coordinated effort – that spans the basic, translational and clinical research spectrum – to promote understanding of the causes and mechanisms of COPCs, as well as effective and safe treatments that can be used across the conditions to manage all painful (and other) symptoms in those affected by COPCs.