Doctors Slow to Change Opioid Over-Prescribing Habits

Research verifies that guidelines to reduce pill counts work but few states undertake such efforts

A new study affirms that efforts to lower opioid prescription rates don't affect the quality of patient care. David Pereiras/Shutterstock

Most surgeons say that when they started practicing medicine, there was little or no information about just how many pain pills that patients needed after specific procedures.

As a result, patients were often sent home with handfuls of powerful and addictive medications. Then the opioid crisis hit, along with studies that showed one possible side effect of surgery is long-term dependence on pain pills. These findings prompted some medical centers and groups of physicians to establish surgery-specific guidelines.