Experts recommend surgeons consider cutting back on the number of take-home opioid pills prescribed to patients post surgery. The suggestion bolsters federal guidelines that advise primary care doctors to carefully consider how they prescribe opioid painkillers.
“There is a massive quantity of unused opioids in the community,” says Evan D. Kharasch, professor of anesthesiology and professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine.
“Most patients get prescriptions for pain medications after surgery, but when they don’t take all of the drugs, the remaining pills can be misused by people for whom they weren’t prescribed.”
