Most physicians see the opioid epidemic's adverse effects in their practices, according to a survey conducted by MDLinx.
For the survey, MDLinx asked 175 physicians five questions pertaining to the opioid epidemic.
Here are five survey findings.
1. A majority of physician respondents (60.10 percent) said the opioid epidemic had affected their practice. The rest of the respondents either reported no changes due to the opioid epidemic (27.40 percent) or said they were unaware of any changes (12.50 percent).
2. Most physicians (66.50 percent) said they now prescribe fewer opioids. Twenty-five percent said prescribing opioids was not applicable to their practices, and 8.5 percent said they haven't changed prescribing practices because they trust their patients to self-regulate opioid use.
3. When asked if governmental intervention would help the opioid crisis, 48.20 percent of physician respondents said "maybe," 35.40 percent said "yes" and 16.50 percent said "no."
4. A majority of respondents (75.90 percent) supported the possible implmentation of a national or state opioid use registry as part of a patients' EHR.
5. The respondents were split on whether easily accessible medical marijuana is a viable alternative to opioids with 50.60 percent in favor of the alternative treatment and 49.40 opposed.
More articles on opioids:
Mallinckrodt settles with DOJ for $35M in opioid probe: 4 things to know
Study: 9 in 10 handwritten opioid prescriptions contain errors
Dr. Scott Gottlieb calls on FDA to implement new opioid prescribing standards