CVS is finally trying to do something about the opioid epidemic:
Drug-store chain CVS Health announced Thursday that it will limit opioid prescriptions in an effort to combat the epidemic that accounted for 64,000 overdose deaths last year alone.
Amid pressure on pharmacists, doctors, insurers and drug companies to take action, CVS also said it would boost funding for addiction programs, counseling and safe disposal of opioids.
[...] The company's prescription drug management division, CVS Caremark, which provides medications to nearly 90 million people, said it would use its sweeping influence to limit initial opioid prescriptions to seven-day supplies for new patients facing acute ailments.
It will instruct pharmacists to contact doctors when they encounter prescriptions that appear to offer more medication than would be deemed necessary for a patient's recovery. The doctor would be asked to revise it. Pharmacists already reach out to physicians for other reasons, such as when they prescribe medications that aren't covered by a patient's insurance plan.
The plan also involves capping daily dosages and initially requiring patients to get versions of the medications that dispense pain relief for a short period instead of a longer duration.
[...] "The whole effort here is to try to reduce the number of people who are going to end up with some sort of opioid addiction problem," CVS Chief Medical Officer Troyen Brennan said in an interview.
It appears this initiative is limited to initial filling of prescriptions — there is no mention of changes in the handling of refills.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday September 26 2017, @12:02AM (1 child)
How about a comparison with something I think we can agree was a serious epidemic, namely AIDS?
AIDS has killed roughly 660,000 Americans since it was first encountered in 1981, or about 18,400 people a year on average. Heroin overdose killed about 3.5 times that last year. So yes, I don't think the word is being misused, except for the question of whether heroin addiction is considered a disease.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by arcz on Sunday October 08 2017, @08:03PM
An epidemic really means just that the rate of new infections is such that it is on an concerning and exponential curve. Drugs can't infect other people, hence they can't be an epidemic.