New CDC Opioid Guidelines Emphasize Flexibility in Treating Pain

Federal health officials last week updated their recommendations for using opioids to treat pain, removing specific dose and duration targets that pain experts said had caused unintended harm. The new guidance, released by the CDC, reflects the evolution in thinking of how opioids should be used, and the reality of how they are being used. A major theme of the 2022 guidelines is that people with pain need individualized care, and that prescribers need to calibrate doses and timeframes to meet a patient’s needs, all while still trying to minimize the harms that can come with opioid use. Read more from StatNews here.