Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CDC Relaxes Opioid Guidelines, Giving Doctors More Flexibility To Treat Pain
The Washington Post: CDC Releases New, More Flexible Guidelines For Prescribing Opioids
Responding to a backlash from pain patients, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released updated guidelines Thursday that offer clinicians more flexibility in the way they prescribe opioids for short- and long-term pain. The new recommendations eliminate numerical dose limits and caps on length of treatment for chronic pain patients that had been suggested in the landmark 2016 version of the agency’s advice, which was aimed at curbing the liberal use of the medication and controlling a rampaging opioid epidemic. Those guidelines cautioned doctors that commencing opioid therapy was a momentous decision for patients. (Bernstein, 11/3)
USA Today: Amid Backlash, CDC's New Opioid Guidance Aims To Curb Addiction And Treat Patients
The new guidance avoids strict figures on dosage and length of opioid prescriptions, recommends how and when to prescribe opioids, and describes harms and benefits. But the CDC emphasized the recommendations are voluntary and flexible and should not be used to support a one-size-fits-all policy. (Alltucker, 11/3)
AP: US Agency Softens Opioid Prescribing Guidelines For Doctors
A draft released in February received 5,500 public comments. Some modifications were made, but several main changes stayed in place, including: The CDC no longer suggests trying to limit opioid treatment for acute pain to three days; The agency is dropping the specific recommendation that doctors avoid increasing dosage to a level equivalent to 90 milligrams of morphine per day. (Stobbe, 11/3)
NPR: CDC Issues New Opioid Prescribing Guidance, Giving Doctors More Leeway To Treat Pain
CDC officials say that doctors, insurers, pharmacies and regulators sometimes misapplied the older guidelines, causing some patients significant harm, including "untreated and undertreated pain, serious withdrawal symptoms, worsening pain outcomes, psychological distress, overdose, and [suicide]," according to the updated guidance. (Stone and Huang, 11/3)
Stat: New Opioid Guidelines Emphasize Flexibility In Treating Pain
The authors of the original guidelines warned in 2019 that their recommendations were being misapplied. And in a commentary also published Thursday, the authors wrote that they revised their recommendations because the original document was improperly cited as a justification for certain policies that restricted opioid access. (Joseph, 11/3)
