Springfield hospital to cut back on narcotic prescriptions
Emergency room doctors at Springfield Regional Medical Center have begun a new program aimed at cutting back the amount of narcotics prescribed to patients in light of the heroin crisis.
Doctors will no longer prescribe narcotics to patients with chronic pain, Dr. Jenny Guest said. Instead they’ll offer those patients other forms of treatment, including medications that aren’t addictive. “We often are asked to prescribe things without knowing their history or knowing what they’re already on,” she said. “And so it’s much easier for those medications to be prescribed and then diverted to illicit use.”
Doctors will no longer prescribe narcotics to patients with chronic pain, Dr. Jenny Guest said. Instead they’ll offer those patients other forms of treatment, including medications that aren’t addictive. “We often are asked to prescribe things without knowing their history or knowing what they’re already on,” she said. “And so it’s much easier for those medications to be prescribed and then diverted to illicit use.”