Kentucky ranks fourth nationally in painkiller prescriptions; CDC proposal would limit prescription strength and amount
prescriptions, at about 130 prescriptions for every 100 people,
Christine Vestal reports for Stateline.
The high rate of painkiller prescriptions is being blamed on a rising
rate of overdose deaths, leading health and government officials in many
states to call for a limit on the number and strength of painkiller
pills prescribed by doctors. (Stateline graphic)
“The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
is close to taking the unprecedented step of issuing national
guidelines to curb liberal opioid prescribing practices widely blamed as
the cause of the epidemic,” Vestal writes. “CDC’s draft proposal
urges primary care doctors to try drug-free methods to relieve chronic
pain, such as exercise, weight loss and physical therapy, as well as
non-opioid pain relievers such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen, before
resorting to powerful opioid pills. If opioids are
needed, the guidelines recommend starting with the smallest effective
dose of immediate-release opioids, avoiding more dangerous time-release
formulations except when needed.” (Stateline graphic)
“Democratic
and Republican governors unanimously support the CDC initiative and
have pledged to promote the voluntary physician guidelines in their
states,” Vestal writes. “But the American Medical Association and
pain organizations backed by drugmakers are complaining the initiative
could make it difficult for chronic pain sufferers to get the pills they
need.”
Last week the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that five Kentucky clinics—in Richmond, Louisville, Burkesville, Mount Sterling and Whitesburg—would receive $1.8 million to fight addiction to heroin and painkillers, Curtis Tate reports for McClatchy Newspapers. “According to the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, 1,087 Kentucky residents died of overdoses in 2014, including 204 in Jefferson County and 112 in Fayette County. HHS estimates that overdose deaths from prescription pain medications quadrupled from 1999 to 2013 and that deaths related to heroin increased 39 percent from 2012 to 2013.”