Powerful painkillers can make patients significantly more comfortable when they endure an illness or injury. But some of those same drugs carry a risk of addiction, and their efficacy in managing chronic pain is less certain. We discuss the use of opioids in pain management and how patient expectations, risk of addiction and quality of life intersect in the treatment of pain. Our guest is Dr. Carlos Pino, medical director of the Center for Pain Medicine at Fletcher Allen Health Care.

 

Also in the program, Burlington School District is trying to turn the corner on criticisms this spring of racial bias and inequality in its schools. Superintendent Jeanne Collins joins us to discuss the district's new Diversity and Equity Office and how the staff there aims to help the district recover from a turbulent few months.

And documentarian Ken Burns is preparing his new film about, "The Dust Bowl." The Walpole, N.H.-based filmmaker is producing a two-part, four-hour project for PBS on what he calls "the worst manmade ecological disaster in American history."