Emergency Rooms Treat Pain with Better Medication

According to the Lansing State Journal, only 14 percent of people discharged from emergency rooms across the country are prescribed opioids.

The report from the National Center for Health Statistics found emergency departments nationwide are less reliant on prescription opioids or high dose pain medications, in reaction to the growing opioid crisis.

Opioid prescriptions issued after an emergency room visit trended near 20 percent for almost a decade, but dropped to 14. 6 percent in 2016 and 2017.

One explanation for the decrease is emergency department providers response to the opioid epidemic.

Many doctors became more aware of the risks associated with opioids and changed their habits.

The latest study said the shift in medications prescribed may potentially be attributed to changing prescribing practices as a result of guidelines and policies created to monitor and reduce opioid prescribing in the United States.

The study logged the drop in opioids prescribed in emergency rooms for a variety of medical conditions. Please click on the above link for the complete list.