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Wednesday, November 29, 2017

OPIOID CRISIS- Washington State’s Response Part 2


The Washington State Attorney General’s Office, Washington State Patrol and the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys have issued a 29-page report with seven recommended goals to reduce illegal opioid use.

The first goal is to increase public awareness about the dangers of opioids (http://ssnoccrimewatch.blogspot.com/2017/11/opioid-crisis-washington-states-response.html).

The second goal is to prevent addiction by curtailing overprescribing. The report makes the following recommendations,



1.      Establish limits on the amount of initial opioid prescriptions.

2.      Require patients to acknowledge that they have been informed on the dangers of opioids upon initial prescription.

3.      Support requirements or incentives for alternative pain management treatments.



The medical and dental industries can help reduce opioid addiction with judiciously prescribing opioids and other non-opioid pain relievers. The report points out that dentists are the biggest prescribers of opioids to youth, with emergency medicine providers the second highest.

Prescribing more than a week’s supply of opioids almost doubles the chance that the patients will still be using opioids one year later.

Some states limit the amount of initial opioid prescriptions. The state of Washington is moving to establish opioid restrictions. The report points out that as patients and medical providers become educated about opioid dangers and the state establishes limits, an effort needs to be made to develop and expand other non-addicting anti-pain treatments.

Next post, part 3; reduce the illicit use of prescription opioids.





  

For the complete report, go to,

Washington State Attorney General’s Office:





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