U-M leading drive to cut opioids given after surgery

https://goo.gl/iMRdg5

"Epidemic" is a tough word, and one often overused.

But it's now clear that we are now facing an enormous and relatively new public health epidemic from the overuse of and our growing addiction to opioid drugs.

And they aren’t all coming from back-alley pushers. Though the exact proportions are not clear, a significant percentage of opioids that enter the supply chain are prescribed by physicians, either to reduce postoperative pain or to help patients with mood disorders.

Research conducted by the University of Michigan further shows that about one-in-10 people who were not on opioid drugs before surgery became dependent on them.

Naturally, a lot of the stuff that does get into the black market comes from pharmacy “pill mills,” corrupt doctors and faked prescriptions and drug dealers. Maybe 35 percent of all prescriptions written are for "acute care" and involve postoperative pain relief, dentistry and emergency medicine ‒ long-accepted medical practice.