CDC Proposes New Opioid Guidelines

Public Comments Sought

On Thursday, February 10, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) proposed new guidelines for prescribing opioids offering more flexibility to clinicians treating pain. Instead of providing specific dosage recommendations the new guidelines would give greater latitude to doctors and other prescribers. “There’s not a one size fits all,” said Christopher Jones, acting director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, part of the CDC. When you have hard thresholds like 90 morphine milligram equivalents or a specific duration, it makes it too easy for policymakers or others to take that out of context and apply that as a rigid cap” he said.

Some things in the guidance, which was last revised in 2016, will not change. For example, care providers will still be strongly urged to first choose non-opioid alternatives for all kinds of pain, including over-the-counter drugs such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), massage, acupuncture, and physical therapy.

The CDC has initiated a public comment period that will end on April 11, after which they will decide whether to adopt them or to first make changes to the proposal.

To learn more about the proposal and leave your own comment, please visit CDC clinical practice guideline for prescribing opioids.

The Coalition for Hemophilia B will provide updates to this story when they are available.