The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been accused of bowing to drug industry pressure after releasing new guidelines that doctors say put lives at risk by rowing back on warnings about the dangers of opioid prescribing.
The latest CDC guidelines have caused controversy after dropping specific limits on dosages and lengths of prescribing from a key summary of recommendations used by physicians.
Dr Kenneth Scheppke, Florida’s deputy health secretary, was so disturbed he issued a public statement accusing the CDC of “tossing aside” the limits used in the previous guidelines released six years ago. Scheppke told the Guardian he is concerned that the move could cost lives as the US continues to grapple with the worst drug epidemic in its history, driven by opioids.
“It’s pretty clear to me that they soften some really good, strong recommendations that they had in 2016 warning prescribers against over prescribing these opioids, and I don’t really see a good reason for removing those two warnings,” he said.
“The United States already has the highest per capita opioid prescriptions in the world, and our overdose numbers certainly reflect that. My concern is the apparent softening of the warning to my colleagues across the nation of the dangers of prescribing either for too many days or to a higher dose. That doesn’t really help the pain but raises dramatically the risk of overdose and death.”
Dr Andrew Kolodny, president of Physicians for Responsible Opioid...
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