CDC’s New Strategy to Opioids: Ache Care

Opiates and opioids have been used for centuries to alleviate pain, but they have also caused significant harm. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other scientific organizations are working to balance the medical need for pain management with the potential for opioids to cause addiction and abuse. The CDC’s new strategy, called Ache Care, involves creating best prescribing practices, holding drug manufacturers and distributors accountable, and providing science-based opioid abuse and addiction treatment.

Managing the Opioid Epidemic

Drug overdoses cause more than 96,700 deaths per year, with opioids being involved in seven out of every ten overdose deaths. In 2015, the reported death toll was 52,400, which led to the creation of CDC guidelines in 2016. The guidelines recommend that opioids should only be used after careful consideration of nonopioid alternatives and with careful dosage and duration consideration. The guidelines include clinician education and training and public outreach.

Ache Care Regulation Gone Wrong

The CDC’s guidelines were not meant to be inflexible or inconsistent, but they had unintended impacts, including limited access to pain management for Medicaid and cancer or palliative care patients, limited access to opioid treatment for addiction, insurers and pharmacies creating their limits and rules, and abrupt discontinuation of prescriptions or patient abandonment. These impacts resulted in untreated and undertreated pain, serious withdrawal symptoms, worsening pain outcomes, mental distress, overdose, and suicidal ideation and behavior.

2022 CDC Guidelines, Opioids, and You

The CDC’s new guidelines emphasize patient-centered therapy and customized pain management instead of common dosages and prescription lengths. They encourage education, pain management alternatives, and withdrawal treatment for opioids instead of abruptly ending prescriptions or reducing dosages. While state laws and insurance policies may not immediately adjust, the CDC’s new guidelines are a step in the right direction.

Customized Pain Treatment and More

The Meadows acknowledges that no pain treatment is one size-fits-all and customizes treatment for each patient to provide quality care for addiction recovery. They provide groundbreaking treatment models and research-backed therapies for any addiction or mental health condition, including pain management and prescription drug addiction. Reach out to The Meadows today to learn how they can help you break free from whatever is holding you back from health and happiness

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