In continuing coverage, on ABC World News (12/9, story 7, 1:10, Muir), chief medical editor Richard Besser, MD, reported on a study from Express Scripts that looked at 36 million prescriptions and found that “nearly half of those patients who are described a narcotic and took it for more than 30 days, they were still on it three years later.” Dr. Besser said these medicines “are meant for short-term use,” and according to the CDC, “46 people die from narcotic overdose, when they are combined with anxiety medication or sleeping pills” every day.
Related Links:
— “Study: A Nation in Pain,” Express Scripts, December 9, 2014.