CDC urges U.S. doctors to limit opioid prescriptions

Doctors should limit prescribing opioids, commonly used as a strong painkiller, theCentersfor Disease Control and Prevention recommends in a set of guidelines for U.S. physicians published today in theJournal of the American Medical Association.

Opioidssuch asfentanyl,oxycodoneandmorphineare often prescribed to patients with chronic pain, but can lead toaddiction and even death due to overdose.

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The CDC recommendsnon-opioidtherapy, including exercise and over-the-counter pain medications, as the preferredtreatmentfor chronic pain. It says opioidsshould only be prescribed at the lowest effective dosage possible when the benefits from pain reduction and bodily function outweigh the risks.

The CDC'snew guidelinesrepresent an effort to reverse nearly two decades of rising opioid use.

CDC urges U.S. doctors to limit opioid prescriptions

8 years ago

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Doctors should limit prescribing opioids, commonly used as a strong painkiller, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends.

Risks 'far outweigh' benefits

In 2014, American doctors wrote nearly 200 million prescriptions for opioid painkillers, while deaths linked to the drugs climbed to roughly 19,000 the highest number on record.

The number of Canadians who die every year fromopioidsis not readily known theCanadian Centre on SubstanceAbuse does not track the statisticsbut Toronto physician NavPersaudtold CBC News in 2014 that morethan 1,000 Canadians die from painkillers every year.

A2012studysays one in eight deaths amongyoung adults age 25 to 34 in Ontarioand one out of every 170 deaths in the province as a whole are opioid overdoses.

0:01Dr. Norm Buckley on opioid addiction

Doctor Norm Buckley is the professor and chair of the Department of Anaesthesia at McMaster's DeGroote School of Medicine, and heads up a working group that's combating Hamilton's addictions problem.

One in four peoplewho entered a withdrawal management program at St. Joseph's Healthcare in Hamilton, Ont.,were opioid patients in 2012, up from one in ten in 2002.

Other studies have cast doubt on the effectiveness of opioidson chronic pain, raising questions on whether its limited long-term effects are worththe harmful risks.

"The science is clear," CDC directorTom Frieden saidTuesday. "For the vast majority of patients, the known and often fatal risks [of opioids] far outweigh the proven and transient benefits."