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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published new figures on the opioid crisis, indicating that the number of emergency room visits to hospitals increased last year.
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FILE – This August 15, 2017, the file photo shows an arrangement of opioid pills oxycodone- Acetaminophen, also known as Percocet, New York (AP Photo / Patrick Sison, record) (Photo: Patrick Sison, AP)

New State Laws in Michigan, Florida and Tennessee will dramatically limit the amount of opioids doctors are allowed to prescribe patients.

As of July 1, Michigan doctors will be prohibited from prescribing ire more than seven days of opioid medications to patients with acute pain – pain caused by fractures. , back pain, short-term illnesses and most surgeries, relatively short-term pain.

Doctors will not be allowed to write refills for drugs before the end of the seven-day period.

The purpose of the law is to make prescription opioids less accessible.

The underlying idea: fewer opioids less likely to misuse 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% 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 is "

The new law has no impact on patients with chronic pain.

New laws in Florida further limit prescriptions. Physicians will be limited to prescribing a three-day supply for acute pain, unless strict conditions are met for a seven-day supply.

Doctors and pharmacists will also be required to consult the state's database. Healthcare professionals will also be required to take courses on opioid prescribing

Read more: Florida Laws: Summer Time, Age of Marriage , opioids, criminal record

More: A girl who lost her parents to the heroine again: "I want a family" [19659008UnderthenewTennesseelawspharmacistscanonlypartiallyfulfilltheprescriptionforthenumberofdaysforwhichitiswrittenTheprescriptionsarealsolimited:thegeneralprescriptionsarelimitedtoaten-daysupply(andnotmorethan500equivalentsofmorphinecumulatedinmilligrams)

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 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, it will not be required until January 1, 2019 to give pharmacies the ability 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 for changes to be made

. unforeseen consequences of the legislation on patients and the pharmacy profession ", said the Association of Pharmacists of Tennessee.

To learn more: Here are the new opioid restrictions of the Tennessee at the Medical Practice and Pharmacy

To Learn More: The Opioid Epidemic Requires a New Perspective on Drug Treatment and Addictions new solutions

Doctors have already reduced the number of opioid prescriptions that they write.According to the American Medical Association, between 2013 and 2017, opioid prescriptions decreased by 22% nationally.

However, the number of overdose deaths continues to increase.About 42,000 people died from opioid overdoses in 2016, more than the previous year, according to the Department of Health and Social Services of the United States. About 40% of these deaths involved a prescription opioid

Between November 2016 and November 2017, about 73,000 people died from 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 review of the Office of the US General Surgeon General and US Department of Public Health, 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 death cause on 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

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