New painkiller standards in US aim at stemming alarming rise in overdose deaths

Washington

IN AN effort to curb what many consider the worst public health drug crisis in decades, the federal government on Tuesday published the first national standards for prescription painkillers, recommending that doctors try ibuprofen and aspirin before prescribing the highly-addictive pills, and that they give most patients only a few days' supply.

The release of the new guidelines by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ends months of arguments with pain doctors and drug industry groups, who had bitterly opposed the recommendations on the grounds that they would pose unfair hurdles for legitimate patients who have long-term pain.

In the end, the agency softened the recommendations slightly but basically held its ground, a testament to how alarmed policymakers have become over the mounting overdoses and deaths from opioid addiction. Opioid deaths - including from heroin, which some people turn to after starting with prescription painkillers - reached a record 28,647 in 2014, according …