The CDC Weighs in with Opioid Prescribing Guidelines

After months of sending mixed messages on the role of emergency medicine in stemming the tide of opioid abuse, the CDC has published guidelines that could prove useful in the emergency department. Opioid abuse is no longer merely a topic for medical discussion. It has become a public health concern of the highest magnitude, even making its way into the speeches of this year’s presidential candidates. The numbers speak for themselves, justifying the concern. Over 10 million Americans reported nonmedical use of prescription opioids in 2014. Visits to the emergency department (ED) for misuse or abuse of prescription opioids increased 153% from 2004 to 2011. Most troubling was the rising number of deaths from opioids. There were 16,007 deaths from prescription opioids in 2012, which increased to 18,893 in 2014. During this same time period, rates of heroin use and overdose also increased. Heroin users were found to be 3.9 times as likely to report nonmedical use of opioids in the previous year compared to people that did not use heroin. Another study determined that prescription-opioid abusers were 40 times as likely to abuse heroin as compared to those without a history of prescription-opioid abuse. In response to this epidemic, both the state and federal governments are taking active steps to combat these alarming numbers. PDMPs are implemented in every state, aside from Missouri. While their impact is still unknown in many places, pill mill laws and the PDMP in Florida may...
Source: EPMonthly.com - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news