Inappropriate application of the CDC’s opioid guidelines has led to suicides, crippling pain, denied prescriptions, and physician’s fearing criminal prosecution for providing proper medical care. Data shows that illicit drug use and illegally diverted medication is driving overdoses, not legitimate pain treatment. However, law enforcement agencies, pharmacies, and state legislatures have applied the guidelines and harsher variations of its provisions in ways the CDC did not intend, leaving patients with pain with fewer options for care.
