Surprise, for back pain there is almost no difference between opioid drugs and placebos

It is not at all necessary to risk developing an opioid addiction to try to relieve acute episodes of back or neck pain, conditions that are very common around the world. Simply because it would be of no use at all. In fact, there would be no difference in effectiveness between opioids and placebos: the former would not offer greater relief than a fake pill.