Opioid Pill Peddling Case Threatens Future of Pain Treatment

Doctors are increasingly reluctant to prescribe opioids for pain treatment amid soaring addiction rates and fear of liability as two physicians face allegations of pill peddling in a case before the Supreme Court, policy experts say.

Xiulu Ruan and Shakeel Kahn are facing over two decades of prison time for allegedly operating like drug dealers with opioid prescriptions. Their fate hinges on how far the justices believe the government should go in proving a doctor’s criminal intent—a thorny issue at the divide between substance use disorder and the need to treat pain.

A Supreme Court decision is expected in the ...