A new survey finds more than half of U.S. doctors are reducing the number of opioid prescriptions they write. Almost 10 percent have stopped prescribing opioids altogether, The Boston Globe reports.
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has sent a letter to every doctor in the country, asking for their help in solving the opioid epidemic, CNN reports.
Many doctors feel ill-equipped to counsel their patients about the potential medical uses of marijuana, USA Today reports. Some states are establishing physician training programs to address marijuana’s health effects.
Doctors and drug companies share responsibility for the opioid crisis sweeping the nation, the head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy told USA Today.
Some doctors are voicing their opposition to new state laws that limit opioid prescribing. The American Medical Association and other medical groups say doctors and patients should be able to balance the need to treat pain against the risk of addiction, Stateline reports.
Some doctors are finding it challenging to balance the mandate to reduce opioid prescriptions with a federal policy that links hospital payments to patient satisfaction surveys, Kaiser Health News reports.
Top headlines of the week from Friday, May 6- Thursday, May 12, 2016.
A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on Wednesday voted to recommend requiring doctors who prescribe opioids to receive training. Doctors’ groups have resisted mandatory training.
A panel of experts convened by the Food and Drug Administration is meeting this week to consider whether to require doctors to undergo training to prescribe opioid painkillers. Doctors’ groups have resisted mandatory training, The New York Times reports.
More than 50 doctors, including a former U.S. Surgeon General, have formed a group promoting the legalization and regulation of marijuana, The Washington Post reports. Doctors for Cannabis Regulation endorses the legalization of marijuana for adult recreational use.
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