Debate Continues Over How to Better Manage Opioid Prescriptions

By Jonathan Springston, Associate Managing Editor

Late last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a dozen draft guidelines for physicians to follow when prescribing opioids in an effort, the agency says, to prevent drug abuse and overdose deaths.

The cover story of the February issue of ED Management digs deeper into the issue of opioid abuse and what a few organizations propose to do about it. Here’s how the ED Management story describes the CDC recommendations:

“The CDC has issued draft recommendations, suggesting that physicians turn to non-opioid alternatives, such as physical therapy and non-opioid analgesics, to treat chronic pain — at least before considering more powerful pain relievers. Further, when opioids must be used, the recommendations direct prescribers to select shorter-acting rather than extended-release versions and to prescribe the lowest possible dose for shorter terms.

“In another, perhaps more controversial, suggestion, the recommendations call for physicians to ask patients to take urine tests before prescribing opioids and to continue requiring urine tests at least once per year if patients continue taking the drugs. This is to make sure that patients are not taking other opioids or illegal substances in addition to their prescribed dosage.”

The recommendations, on the surface, may appear sensible and straightforward, at least to some observers. However, lawmakers, patients, physicians, advocacy groups, and others in the healthcare industry have pushed back, criticizing everything from how the agency developed the proposals to how it handled the initial public comment period.

The CDC planned to finalize the recommendations in November and release them publicly in January. But under mounting pressure, the agency opened a second public comment period in mid-December. The agency held a public conference call on Jan. 7 to hear comments from the public and answer questions about its methodology for forming the proposals. The CDC will keep this comment period open until Jan. 13.

Be sure to check out the February issue of ED Management to learn more about the issue, why it's so important, and what some other groups have to say. And don't forget to attend AHC Media's webinar on safe opioid use on Feb. 9.