"We must do more to end systematic problems in our healthcare system that are fuelling a rise in opioid abuse," Schneiderman stated on Thursday. "By adopting the proposed guidelines, we can reduce prescription drug abuse by providing doctors with better guidance to help them prescribe opioids in a safer and more effective manner."
On December 11, 2015, the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) submitted its version of ideal guidelines to effectively reduce prescription drug abuse. They include alternative chronic pain treatments to prescription opioids, as well as implementing urine drug testing for opioid discontinuation.
Schneiderman is calling on the CDC to adopt the guidelines so they can be implemented nationwide.
The use of prescription opioids in the United States has increased by ten times over the past 25 years, while overdose rates are at an all-time high, according to the CDC. In 2014, 18,893 people died from opioid pain reliever overdoses, a 16 percent increase from 2013.
