Ohio physicians may now only issue seven-day opioid prescriptions to adults and five-day opioid prescription to kids and teens under new acute pain prescribing rules that took effect Thursday, according to Cleveland.com.
Here are five things to know.
1. The state's medical, pharmacy and nursing boards will enforce the new prescribing rules, which were announced in June. The rules are permitted under legislation passed by the state in January, according to a June report from Cleveland.com.
2. The new rules will also require all prescribers to include the diagnosis or procedure code on every opioid prescription beginning Dec. 29. This information will be used to identify patterns of possible overprescribing.
"If you're a dentist, doctor, I don't care who you are, you violate these guidelines, the medical board will come after you," Republican Gov. John Kasich said Wednesday, according to Cleveland.com. "And you will be disciplined and perhaps even lose your license."
3. The new rules do not apply to opioid prescriptions written for cancer patients, chronic pain or palliative and hospice care.
4. The rules also don't apply to medicines used for addiction treatment that contain opioids.
5. More than 4,000 Ohioans died from drug overdoses in 2016, according to survey results a county coroner's office published in May.
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