Yahoo – AFP,
March 15, 2016
Washington
(AFP) - US health authorities issued guidelines Tuesday to limit prescribing
opioid painkillers, in an attempt to help curb an epidemic of overdoses that
kills more than 40 Americans every day.
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.
Overdose
deaths soared to 26,647 in 2014, a 14 percent increase from the year before.
They represented 61 percent of all drug overdose deaths.
The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which published the guidelines in the
Journal of the American Medical Association, has been under pressure to set
national standards after a number of medical organizations and some states
established their own restrictions.
Officials
say the new guidelines' nationwide scope will encourage doctors to exercise
more restraint in prescribing the powerful painkillers.
"It's
become increasingly clear that opioids carry substantial risk but only
uncertain benefits -- especially compared with other treatments for chronic
pain," CDC Director Tom Frieden told reporters.
"More
than 40 Americans die each day from prescription opioid overdoses, we must act
now."
The
guidelines, endorsed by many addiction experts, encourage physicians to first
recommend non-opioid anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen and aspirin for
chronic pain -- described as lasting longer than three months.
The CDC
also recommends limiting opioid prescriptions for patients suffering
short-term, acute pain to three days or less in most conditions.
More than
seven days of opioid drug use will "rarely be needed," the CDC said.
Lawmakers
have been hammering out legislation aimed at helping combat a crisis of
addiction to heroin as well as painkiller opiates, which are related (AFP
Photo/Spencer Platt) |
Urine
tests to curb abuse
Doctors
currently prescribe opiate painkillers for two weeks to a month.
The
guidelines are intended primarily for general practitioners, who write half the
prescriptions for opioid painkillers and often are not adequately trained in
their use.
The CDC
recommends patients take urine tests before receiving prescriptions and doctors
to check prescription drug monitoring program data in order to ensure patients
are not already receiving prescriptions from other doctors.
Although 49
states have such systems in place, only 16 require doctors use them.
The CDC
guidelines do not apply to patients suffering from serious or terminal
illnesses such as cancer.
The
recommendations are meant as "a tool for doctors and for patients to chart
a safer course," Frieden said, with the aim of balancing "the risks
of addiction with the needs of patients to treat pain."
Doctors
began generously prescribing opiate painkillers in the 1990s after
pharmaceutical companies and medical experts deemed they could be used for back
pain, arthritis and other conditions without fear of creating addictions.
Health care
providers wrote 249 million prescriptions for opioid pain relievers in 2013,
the CDC said.
The new
guidelines come as lawmakers have been hammering out legislation aimed at
helping combat a crisis of addiction to heroin as well as painkillers opiates,
which are related.
The US
Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill last week that would provide financial
assistance to states and local authorities fighting the overdose epidemic.
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