Prescription Opioids, Time to Rethink How We Assess Risk

While the opioid epidemic was officially declared a public health emergency in 2017, the USA has grappled with this problem for much longer. After 2017, the response to the crisis came at every level, from individual practices and healthcare establishments to state and national organizations and the government. The result was an influx of policies and laws aimed at reversing the epidemic, primarily by restricting the initial prescription of opioids. The CDC report from 2019 noted a decrease in the prescribing rates of opioids; however, opioid-related deaths have not followed suit. This discrepancy is without a clear explanation but raises numerous issues.

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