The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that a crackdown on opioids is harming patients who need them
- Opioid prescriptions and overdoses quadrupled from 1999 to 2010. Amid criticism that they had over-prescribed opioids, doctors approved 44% fewer opioid prescriptions between 2012 and 2020
- The CDC now says that people with intense pain are being denied access to opioids and suffering for it
- Some sick people are illegally buying opioids, the CDC says, including fentanyl, which is ~50x stronger than heroin and kills tens of thousands yearly
Dig Deeper
- “We know that people that live with pain experience many challenges,” a top CDC official said. “Having safe, consistent, and effective pain management should not be one of them”