The Opioid Reduction Act, which passed nearly unanimously in both chambers, limits initial opioid prescriptions to a seven-day supply. Prescribers are also encouraged to prescribe the lowest effective dose for treatment.
The Act also requires practitioners, before issuing an initial prescription, to take a thorough medical history, including substance misuse; to develop a treatment plan, with particular attention focused on determining the cause of the patient's pain; and to access relevant drug monitoring information on the Controlled Substances Monitoring Program database.
For adults seeking treatment in an emergency room or urgent care facility, practitioners are limited to four-day prescriptions.
A Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study has shown the probability of long-term opioid use increases most sharply in the first days of therapy, particularly after five days or one month of opioids have been prescribed, and levels off after approximately 12 weeks of therapy.
The study was published in March 2017 in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
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DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
3 comments:
Talbot County is in the process of suing the firms that may and distribute opioids. What about Wicomico County
Take them completely off the market I don't care, but replace them with something to ease the chronic pain for those of us that need them. Everyone who used opioids is not junkies, and many of us hate dealing with doctors, nurses, and others who treat us as such and second class citizens. Until you have lived with chronic pain you don't know what you are talking about, I don't care how many degrees you have hanging on a wall. So stop pretending that you do and LISTEN to your patients. Believe it or not, we know our bodies much better than you ever could.
Why hasn't Wicomico County joined the nationwide opioid lawsuit?
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