The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in February proposed new guidelines that would ease restrictions on prescription opioids, but states might balk at lifting limits on painkillers that have fueled the nation’s deadly overdose epidemic.
The proposed recommendations aim to give millions of Americans suffering intractable and chronic pain better access to the opioid painkillers their doctors say they need. At the same time, the proposed guidelines caution against starting any new patients on the highly addictive painkillers unless nothing else works.
For the eased guidelines to have their intended effect, states would need to amend or repeal existing statutes that limit opioid prescriptions to three to seven days and set ceilings on the daily dose doctors can prescribe.
