States Consider Their Own Responses to Prescription Opioid Epidemic

By Kelly Young

Edited by Susan Sadoughi, MD, and André Sofair, MD, MPH

Some states are taking their own steps to control prescription opioids, after deciding that federal officials weren't doing enough to curb the problem, the New York Times reports.

Around the country, state legislatures are considering roughly 375 proposals to regulate pain clinics and opioid prescribing practices.

The Massachusetts legislature passed a bill last week to limit the duration of an opioid prescription for surgical- or injury-related pain to 7 days. Vermont and Maine are weighing whether to adopt similar measures, and governors from around the country will consider prescription opioid controls at a meeting this summer.

At the federal level, the CDC may soon publish guidelines encouraging limited prescriptions for opioids and initial treatment with nonpharmacologic methods.