The US Opioid Crisis: Current Federal and State Legal Issues.

The US Opioid Crisis: Current Federal and State Legal Issues. Anesth Analg. 2017 Nov;125(5):1675-1681 Authors: Soelberg CD, Brown RE, Du Vivier D, Meyer JE, Ramachandran BK Abstract The United States is in the midst of a devastating opioid misuse epidemic leading to over 33,000 deaths per year from both prescription and illegal opioids. Roughly half of these deaths are attributable to prescription opioids. Federal and state governments have only recently begun to grasp the magnitude of this public health crisis. In 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released their Guidelines for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain. While not comprehensive in scope, these guidelines attempt to control and regulate opioid prescribing. Other federal agencies involved with the federal regulatory effort include the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and the Department of Justice. Each federal agency has a unique role in helping to stem the burgeoning opioid misuse epidemic. The DEA, working with the Department of Justice, has enforcement power to prosecute pill mills and physicians for illegal prescribing. The DEA could also implement use of prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), currently administered at the state level, and use of electronic prescribing for schedule II and III medications. The FDA has authority to approve new and safer formulations of immediate- and long-acting opioid medica...
Source: Anesthesia and Analgesia - Category: Anesthesiology Authors: Tags: Anesth Analg Source Type: research