Can suboxone be prescribed as a pain relief medication?

Suboxone is a Semi-synthetic chemical called Buprenorphine. Buprenorphine is most commonly used as a maintenance drug for opiate dependent persons.

It is a medication derived from a synthetic poppy material Thebaine.

Buprenorphine is available as a sublingual (under the tongue) film

&SL tablet in 2mg & 8mg doses with .5mg and 2mg naloxone (an opiate antagonist) added to deter IV injection by opiate dependent users through precipitating opiate withdrawal or 'dope sickness'.

A partial mu-agonist (which means the drug only partially occupies the Mu-opiate receptors) will not be nearly as an effective painkiller as a full Mu-agonist such as Hydromorphone and Oxymorphone (very powerful Morphine derivatives for severe or terminal pain, as well as some of the most potent human metabolites of hydrocodone and oxycodone which contribute to an extent the analgesia, euphoria, miOSis, and physical dependency of them.)

However, while not a typically dispensed pain alleviation prescription, When not being used to treat opiate dependency patients it is prescribed in immensely smaller doses than those for dependents in a transdermal patch called BuTrans.