[ad_1]
Dozens of states are cracking down on the amount of painkillers prescribed by doctors.
Image: © Darwin Brandis / Getty Images
Overdoses of powerful painkillers called opioids kill more than 115 people a day in the United States. More than 42,000 people died of opioids in 2016, five times more than in 1999. The reason? Since many of these powerful pain relievers became available as pills decades ago, doctors have prescribed more than what patients need. "It is estimated that much of the remaining opioids are diverted to the street, deliberately or through theft," says Dr. Edgar Ross, senior clinician at the Brigham and Women's Pain Management Center. s Hospital, affiliated with Harvard.
The misuse of opioids is a risk that many states are no longer willing to take. Florida, Michigan and Tennessee are the latest states (among more than two dozen right now) to enact new stringent laws on opioid prescriptions. The rules limit the amounts that health professionals can prescribe for temporary (acute) pain resulting from surgery, injury or illness.
To continue reading this article, you must s & # 39; identify.
Subscribe to Harvard Health Online for immediate access to health news and information from Harvard Medical School.
<! –
->
Source link
