U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
WASHINGTON – New York’s junior senator in Washington is calling on the federal government to develop stricter guidelines regarding how and when doctors should prescribe pain medications to their patients.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) is partnering with Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) in urging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to issue guidelines for doctors prescribing opioids for acute pain.
Currently, the CDC is only focused on guidelines for opioids prescribed to treat chronic pain. However, many individuals become addicted to opioids after taking prescriptions for acute pain.
The senators said on Thursday that for many people, difficulties with opioid addiction began after receiving a prescription for acute pain. They say Many people with acute pain haven’t had previous opioid exposure and may be at heightened risk for addiction. They feel that by updating the prescribing guidelines for acute pain, we can minimize the initial exposure to opioid medications and further limit the number of opioid prescriptions.
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