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FILE – On August 15, 2017, the archive photo shows an arrangement of opioid oxycodone-acetaminophen pills, also known as Percocet, in New York (AP Photo / Patrick Sison, record)
Patrick Sison, PA
The new laws of the states of Michigan, Florida and Tennessee will significantly limit the amount of opioids that doctors can prescribe to patients.
Effective July 1, Michigan doctors will not be able to prescribe more than seven days of opioids. drugs for patients with acute pain – pain caused by fractures, back pain, short-term illnesses and most surgical procedures, a relatively short-term pain.
Doctors will not be allowed to write refills for drugs until the end of the seven-day period.
The law aims to make prescription opioids less accessible.
The idea behind the law: fewer opioids less likely to abuse them. Less risk of abuse means less overdose deaths, and fewer people involved in heroin. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, nearly 80% of Americans who consume heroin reported having abused prescription opioids before using the drug. heroin, according to research.
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. Nabil Sibai, an anesthetist who is chief of pain services at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, said that most patients with acute pain do not need to take opioid medications for more than 7 days. "There is a lot of data that shows that for the most part, at least 90 percent of acute pain episodes, (patients) will only require three to seven days of opioids," he said.
And the more a patient is on opioids, the more likely he is to become dependent on them. "Exposure is a factor … If you only use a few days of opioids, you are less likely to become addicted or dependent … If you are given more, you risk take more, even if it's not necessary. "
New law has no impact on patients with chronic pain.
New laws in Florida further restrict prescriptions. Physicians will be limited to prescribing a supply of three days for acute pain, unless strict conditions are met for a supply of seven days.
Physicians and pharmacists will also be required to consult the state's database. take courses on the prescription of opioids
For more information: Florida Laws: Summer Time, Age of Marriage, Opioids, Criminal Record
For more information: A girl who loses her parents to heroin begins again: "I want a family"
According to the new laws of Tennessee, pharmacists can not only partially fill the prescription with the number of days for which it is written. The prescriptions are also limited: the general prescriptions are limited to a ten-day supply (and not more than 500 equivalents of morphine cumulated in milligrams).
Prescriptions after surgery are limited to a supply of 20 days (maximum cumulative 850 MME)). "Medical necessity" prescriptions are limited to a 30-day supply (maximum 1200 cumulative CMEs).
The law now requires doctors in Tennessee to document the specific reasons why a patient is receiving an opioid prescription, as well as getting it with informed consent – the prescriber has warned you that It can create an addiction.
These restrictions do not apply to opioid prescriptions for a supply of three days (or less) (maximum 180 ME). Although this law comes into effect technically on July 1, but it will not be mandatory until January 1, 2019, to give pharmacies a chance to update their software.
Initially, the legislation was more restrictive – arousing the concern of pharmacists would prevent "legitimate patients" from obtaining the necessary prescriptions and placing a burden on pharmacists, the Association said. pharmacists in Tennessee, who lobbied lawmakers to make changes
. unforeseen consequences of legislation on patients and the pharmacy profession ", said the Association of Pharmacists of Tennessee.
For more information: Here are the new opioid restrictions of the Tennessee at the Medical Office and Pharmacy
To Learn More: The Opioid Epidemic Requires a New Perspective on Drug Treatment and Addictions new solutions
Doctors are already reducing the number of opioid prescriptions they 're writing Between 2013 and 2017, opioid prescriptions decreased by 22% at the time of treatment. Nationwide, according to the American Medical Association.
However, the number of overdose deaths continues to increase.About 42,000 people died of opioid overdoses in 2016, more than anything the previous year, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services. About 40% of these deaths involved a prescription opioid
Between November 2016 and November 2017, about 73,000 people died of a drug overdose, according to estimates from the US Centers for Control and Prevention diseases. If recent trends are true, the majority of these deaths will have been caused by opioids.
But as shocking as they may seem, the number of overdose deaths is probably higher than the figures reported by government agencies.
On Wednesday, "Public Health Reports", the Journal of the Office of the US General Surgeon General and Public Health Service, published an article saying that it is possible that more than 70,000 deaths per year overdoses are not reported across the country between 1999 and 2015.
The reason? Incomplete cause of death reporting death certificates
Which means that the opioid epidemic is larger than expected.
Follow Georgea Kovanis on Twitter: @georgeakovanis
Contribution: Associated Press; Kristi L Nelson, Knoxville Sentinel News
Copyright 2017 USATODAY.com
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