Ohio is placing new limits on the prescribing of opioid medications for acute pain, forbidding clinicians from writing more than a 7-day supply for adults, or a 5-day supply for minors (down from up to 90 days, currently). Prescribers will be allowed to override the acute pain limit if they identify a specific reason in their patients’ medical records, though this is not likely to apply in the urgent care setting. Further, the limits do not apply to prescriptions for chronic pain such as experienced by patients with cancer. Representative of the national problem of opioid abuse, addiction, and related deaths, Ohio lost 3,050 residents to drug overdoses in 2015, the most recent year for which totals are available. The new limits will take effect as soon as they’re approved by the state medical board and state boards of pharmacy, dentistry, and nursing.
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New Limits on Prescribing Opioids for Acute Pain