Ohio enacts limits on prescribing for acute pain

New state regulations announced in Ohio last week will limit most initial prescribing of opioids for acute pain to seven-day supplies for adults and five days for children and adolescents. Meanwhile, state lawmakers have proposed legislation that would enforce an even stricter limit, cleveland.com reported.

The newly announced rules mirror guidelines for acute pain treatment that were issued last year; guidelines applying to chronic pain management were issued in 2013. Under the new rules, prescribers also will be required to submit the diagnosis requiring opioid use when reporting through the state's controlled substances database.

The new regulations create exceptions to the limits for cancer treatment, hospice care and treatment in substance use treatment facilities.

A group of Republican state legislators last week proposed its own set of limits on physician and dentist prescribing, which would include a three-day maximum supply of opioids. The proposed legislation also would require addiction treatment centers to offer the injectable version of the antagonist medication naltrexone as a treatment option.