BOSTON — To the medical students, the patient was a conundrum. According to his chart, he had residual pain from a leg injury sustained while working on a train track. So why did his urine test positive for two other drugs — cocaine and hydromorphone, a powerful opioid that doctors had not ordered? It was up to Clark Yin, 29, to figure out what was really going on with Chris McQ, 58 — as seven other third-year medical students and two instructors watched. The assignment today: grappling with the delicate art and science of managing a chronic pain patient who might be tipping into a substance use disorder.

Source: New York Times September 10, 2018 14:18 UTC