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In 2014, overdoses of opioids, like oxycodone and hydrocodone, and related drugs like heroin were responsible for28,647 deaths, up 14 percent from the year before. About one in 550 people who received opioids for chronic pain not linked to cancer died from an opioid-related overdose a median of 2.6 years after their first prescription. “We know of no other medication routinely used for a nonfatal condition that kills patients so frequently,” Dr. Thomas Frieden and Dr. Debra Houry of the C.D.C. wrote in The New England Journal of Medicine on Tuesday.
To reduce this high toll, the C.D.C. is advising doctors not to prescribe opioids for chronic pain in most situations. Studies have found no evidence that the long-term use of opioids is beneficial, and in fact, exercise, physical therapy and over-the-counter drugs like acetaminophen can be more effective. The guidelines do not apply to cancer treatment, palliative care and end-of-life care, situations in which opioids are often the only way to reduce pain.
The guidelines also advise doctors prescribing opioids to start with low doses, prescribed for three days or less and rarely for more than seven days. Doctors should also clearly warn patients that the drugs are highly addictive and check prescription-monitoring programs to see if people are getting drugs from multiple physicians. Most states have such programs, but manydo not require that doctors use them.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/17/opinion/a-strong-response-to-the-opioid-scourge.html?_r=0
So we'll have a higher death toll from suicides.