In this February 11 photo, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Thomas Frieden testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. “Overprescribing opioids – largely for chronic pain – is a key driver of America’s drug-overdose epidemic”. The recommendations, which doctors aren’t legally obligated to follow, don’t apply to the treatment of patients being treated for cancer or those receiving palliative or end-of-life care. TheCDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain, United States, 2016 will help primary care providers ensure the safest and most effective treatment for their patients.
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Aside from asking the doctors to refrain from prescribing opioid for patients with chronic pain, patients are likewise asked to be honest as possible in disclosing their opioid use with their physicians.
“Opiate abuse has been a big problem for a while”, said Robert Mehl, residency program director of the Utah Valley Family Practice Residency in Provo. The guideline also focuses on increasing the use of other effective treatments available for chronic pain, such as nonopioid medications or non-pharmacologic therapies.
The recommendations, which are not binding for doctors, urge them to exercise more caution prescribing opioids in order to reduce the abuse of drugs that cause powerful addictions amid growing concerns about their use across the country. It requires doctors to submit information electronically to a prescription drug monitoring system when they prescribe the narcotics. If patients don’t get opioids, Mehl said, they might not feel like their doctor is prescribing the strongest medication for their pain, which can put doctors in a tough situation. It defined chronic pain as lasting longer than three months, or past the typical time it takes for normal tissue healing.
As patients become dependent on painkillers, many have turned to heroin as a cheaper alternative to satisfy their addiction.
Other U.S. health officials on Tuesday said first responders should have wider access to Naloxone, a drug that can reverse opioid overdoses. Clinicians should only continue opioid therapy if there is a clinically meaningful improvement in pain and function that outweighs risks.
The doctor can tell you that up to 1 in 4 patients with chronic pain can experience opioid dependence.
Opioids “carry substantial risks but only uncertain benefits”, Frieden said.
New federal guidelines have been created to reshape the way doctors prescribe painkillers such as Vicodin and Oxycontin.
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He says the CDC’s new recommendations will give more backbone to the fight they have already begun.
