New polling data from The Boston Globe reveals that U.S. physicians are prescribing fewer opioids. But how does the trend impact patients – and the nation’s opioid addiction epidemic?
The Boston Globe Data
The Globe’s December SERMO poll of nearly 3,000 physicians reveals that:
- More than half of all physician respondents reduced their opioid prescribing over the past two years
- More than two-thirds of internal medicine and family practice physicians reduced their opioid prescribing over the past two years
- Thirty-four percent cited “too many hassles and risks” as their rationale for reducing prescriptions
- Twenty-nine percent credited an “improved understanding of opioids’ risks”
- More than one-third of physicians agreed that reducing opioid prescriptions may actually hurt patients.
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