The National Safety Council is urging the Drug Enforcement Administration to require – under the Controlled Substances Act – education and additional training for medical practitioners who prescribe opioid painkillers.
Opioid painkillers such as Oxycontin, Percocet and Vicodin lead to more fatal drug overdoses than heroin and cocaine combined, according to the 2015 edition of the NSC chart book, “Injury Facts.”
“The most fatally abused drug today is legal and sitting in our medicine cabinets,” Deborah A.P. Hersman, president and CEO of NSC, said in a press release. “DEA has been on the front lines of the fight to end this epidemic, and we applaud its efforts. We urge DEA to take another critical step by requiring prescriber education and training to prevent overprescribing and save lives.”
For more information on prescription painkillers, go to nsc.org/rxpainkillers.
