Listen-1.0x+0:009:32Produced by ElevenLabs and News Over Audio (Noa) using AI narration. Listen to more stories on the Noa app.Doctors have long taken for granted a devil’s bargain: Relieving intense pain, such as that caused by surgery and traumatic injury, risks inducing the sort of pleasure that could leave patients addicted. Opioids are among the most powerful, if not the most powerful, pain medications ever known, but for many years they have been a source of staggering morbidity and mortality. After the Civil War, thousands of veterans became addicted to morphine…
