CONFRONTING THE CRISIS BY MARION WEBB
Opioid and pain management perceptions, practices and recommendations have changed dramatically over the past few years, and several high-profile addictions and deaths have generated heavy media coverage in recent months and have heightened government concerns and actions. The Medical Board of California revised its influential guidelines for prescribing potentially addictive pain medications in 2014 while California officials have said recently that they are stepping up efforts to curb abuse of opioids. State public health officials recently received a $3.7 million Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) grant to improve prescription practices for opioids and President Barack Obama recently proposed adding $1 billion to the federal budget for treatment programs. Last month the U.S. House of Representatives passed a series of bills to combat opioid abuse, and the CDC released new guidelines in March of this year advising doctors against prescribing opioids to treat chronic pain. The effort to improve prescription practices for opioids also includes a July 1 deadline for California physicians licensed to prescribe or dispense them to sign up for CURES (Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System) 2.0.