Information for Providers

Safe Prescribing Saves Lives

Chronic pain is common, multidimensional, and individualized, and treatment can be challenging for healthcare providers as well as patients. In response to the critical need for consistent and current opioid prescribing guidelines, the CDC released the Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain.

Since 1999, deaths involving prescription opioids have increased by more than five times, and over 200,000 people have died from prescription opioids.¹ These recommendations focus on clinical practice and provide evidence and guidance to improve how these drugs are prescribed—and ultimately improve patient care.

• MMWR: CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain — United States, 2016
• JAMA Special Communication: CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain external icon

References

1. Scholl L, Seth P, Kariisa M, Wilson N, Baldwin G. Drug and Opioid-Involved Overdose Deaths – United States, 2013-2017. WR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. ePub: 21 December 2018.