Addled appointees take out pens to note what might help manage pain (6)
I believe the answer is:
opiate
'note what might help manage pain' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'addled appointees take out pens' is the wordplay.
'addled' is an anagram indicator.
'take out' is a deletion indicator.
'appointees' with 'pens' taken out is 'apoite'.
'apoite' is an anagram of 'OPIATE'.
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for opiate that I've seen before include "Drug with an opium base" , "of heroin, perhaps" , "painkiller" , "something stupefying" , "Drug such as morphine" .)