Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)

Overprescribing leads to more abuse and more overdose deaths.

[An image of a man from behind reaching up over his shoulder to rub a pain in his neck. The pain is represented by radiating circles.]

• 4 times increase in sales of prescription opioids since 1999.

• In that same time more than 165000 people have died from overdoes related to prescription opioids.

Refer to the CDC guideline for prescribing opioids for chronic pain for responsible prescribing of these drugs.

1. USE NONOPIOID THERAPIES: Don’t use opioids routinely for chronic pain. Use nonopioid therapies alone or in combination with opioids. Only consider opioid therapy if you expect benefits for pain and function to outweigh risks.

2. START LOW AND GO SLOW: When opioids are used, start with the lowest effective dosage and short-acting opioids instead of extended­release/long-acting opioids.

3. FOLLOW-UP: Regularly assess whether opioids are improving pain and function without causing harm. If benefits do not outweigh harms, optimize other therapies and work with patients to taper opioids.

Guideline for prescribing opioids for chronic pain

LEARN MORE : www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/prescribing.guideline.html

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guidelines_providers_poster-a.pdf

Poster

Stephen B. Thacker CDC Library collection