CDC Advises Doctors Not To Prescribe Opioids For Chronic Pain

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) took initiative to help combat the US' problem of opioid addiction by setting new guidelines for prescribing opioid painkillers. Doctors were basically told to not prescribe opioids like OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet for chronic pain problems such as arthritis, migraines, back problems and other similar conditions without exploring other pain relief options.

Providers: CDC’s new Checklist for prescribing #opioids for chronic pain is a tool you can use in daily practice: https://t.co/qO9T5cTDxc.

— CDC (@CDCgov) March 15, 2016

The new CDC guidelines recommend that health professionals try recommending milder pain relievers like ibuprofen before they prescribe opiod analgesics. According to the federal agency, the sales of opioids have boomed in the last decade and as a result, an average of 40 people die from opioid overdose each day in the country.

LA Times reports that since the late 1990's, more than 160,000 people in the US have died from fatal opioid overdose. CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden stated in an editorial published in The New England Journal of Medicine that more research is needed to understand and confirm the effects and safety of opiod drugs with regard to chronic pain relief.

"Whereas the benefits of opioids for chronic pain remain uncertain, the risks of addiction and overdose are clear," Dr. Frieden said. "Although abuse-deterrent formulations may reduce the likelihood that patients will inject melted pills, these formulations are no less addictive and do not prevent opioid abuse or fatal overdose through oral intake."

While the new CDC guidelines are nonbinding, they are considered to be important because it is the broadest measure to address the opioid painkiller problem. It has been praised by various medical groups and they were impressed by the move of the federal agency.

"This is the first time the federal government is communicating clearly to the medical community that long-term use for common conditions is inappropriate," Dr. Andrew Kolodny of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing told the New York Times. "It's one of the most significant interventions by the federal government."

What do you think of CDC's newest guidelines of opioid painkiller prescriptions? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!