Officials say that legal enforcement only fuels the opioid crisis.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a 200-page report with new recommendations to relax restrictions for doctors prescribing opioids for pain, despite the risk of addiction. They have revised principles that were issued in 2016 in an attempt to curb the opioid overdose epidemic in the U.S.
The update does not offer thresholds for dosage or prescription duration as the former guide did. Prior guidelines had led to a sudden or drastic reduction in the dosages of the drugs doctors prescribed.
Officials wrote in the report, “Opioids can be essential medications for the management of pain, however, they carry considerable potential risk.” They also stated that the guidelines are not “a replacement for clinical judgment or individualized, person-centered care” or “intended to be applied as inflexible standards of care.”
As one in five Americans reportedly suffers from chronic pain, there were a record 107,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. last year, over 70 percent of them were due to illegal synthetic opioids.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Director Walensky as she manages the CDC and issues health recommendations.
- For CDC officials as they assess the status of public health threats and risks.
- For U.S. health professionals to be wise in their prescription of opioids.
Sources: AP, Newsmax, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
