2016 Cdc Guidelines For Prescribing Opioids For Chronic Pain (Page 10)
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Hey all fellow patients out there, did you know the CDC has published a list of their proposed 2016 guidelines for doctors who prescribe opioids for chronic pain? That includes oxycodone, lortab, percocet, hydrocodone, opana, suboxone, morphine, and any other drug that has an opiate ingredient in it that so many of us count on to lead normal lives!

This affects all of us and the comment period ends on January 13 2016! That's about a week from now! You know the doctors are going to have to follow whatever federal rules pass so if you are worried that you might not get the care you need please go to the gov web site for the office of the Federal Register and submit your comments to them before it's too late!

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announces the opening of a docket to obtain public comment on the draft CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain (Guideline). The Guideline provides recommendations regarding initiation or continuation of opioids for chronic pain; opioid selection, dosage, duration, follow-up, and discontinuation; and assessment of risk and addressing harms of opioid use. The Guideline is intended to be used by primary care providers (e.g., family physicians or internists) who are treating patients with chronic pain (i.e., pain lasting longer than 3 months or past the time of normal tissue healing) in outpatient settings."

https:/­/­federalregister.gov/­a/­2015-31375

Editor's note: Please note that the above statement "You know the doctors are going to have to follow whatever federal rules pass" is technically correct but may be misleading in this case because the CDC draft says that it is "not a federal regulation" and that "adherence to the Guideline will be voluntary."

Editor's note # 2: The title for this discussion thread has been updated to reflect the topic most effectively.

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I just posted my comments. I also included the fact that Suboxone, which is a prescription medication for withdrawal of opiates, is completely out of reach for even patients with insurance can not afford. Those that want to get off pain medication stay on it just do to the fact that pain medication is much cheaper than Suboxone!!

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Is this a way for the federal government to legalize marijuana as a pain reliever? I really believe the devil is in this issue. Chronic pain in seniors that pain rx helps them to lead an active life should not even be a government involvement. Is this something that Fl. Atty General Pam Bondi started? Does anyone remember the days that cancer patients died in such pain agony because doctors were afraid they would get hooked on drugs while dying or the FDA was fearful that someone would buy paregoric! This is an asinine government involvement that cannot see that Americans could be killed by terrorists ...........not a pain rx!

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Thanks Roy for the information. My doctor about a month or so ago told me about the new prescribing guidelines and told me that I would be one of the last patients he would ever reduce my level of medication on because he could easily justify my level of Medicine.
I had a really bad epidural abcess 27+ years ago after a back surgery and while I had the infection they had me on IV steroids for 10 days which made the infection a super bug. It scared the dural sac really bad at 2 levels, scared the nerve sheaths really bad at 2 levels and basically created a scar tissue pocket the size of 2 softballs from L4 to S1.
I guess by now you get the picture of how much nerve irritation I have going on. I have a multi-lead spinal cord stimulator implant (my 7th unit and counting) and have Rhizotomys at 3 levels both sides about every 14 months.
That's basically what someone who doesn't have cancer or end of life care will have to almost have to stay on their current medication regime.
Most doctors will follow the new guidelines because if they don't they could be sued for anything that might happen because of not following the guidelines. They say it's not mandatory, but watch most doctors follow the guidelines unless it's something rare, severe and has a zero surgical fix. Like my unfortunate self :-(
There's exceptions to everything and I definitely fall into the exception category, alot of people in pain management are going to have to get by with less medicine or none at all. Most people I know in pain management where I live have already been told by their doctors if their medicines are going to be reduced or even eliminated all together and have already started months ago doing this.
Chronic Pain patients are the latest victims in our governments failed War On Drugs, sad but true! Drug abusers now have a higher priority than suffering human beings!
Everyone can complain all they want to, but until the politicians are out of office who caused this it won't change. Bless all of you who are going to be victims of our governments out of control over reach playing doctors now...

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How dare US it is against turture to terrorist when they have taken away medication needed for end of life inhumane murdring pain. I have had 4 people die in my niegborhood not from over dosing but becuse they were cut off needed medication in their last days. Well their last days were inhumane what used to be criminal pain.I keep getting told im going to have a stroke my blood pressure is so high becuse of murdering pain at the end of my life and no the end of my life was not supposed to be tonight but it could be becuse the only way to control my BP is with my pain med that took 8 years of suffing to finally get diognosis n treatment the only thing that can be done is control pain. no more surgery

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I have antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). The pain started when i was about 8. I would get horrible headaches (ha). I figured out when i was 16 that aspirin, an antiinflammatory worked very well at controlling the pain. I would buy bottles of 500 norwich aspirin (325 mg each) at the dime store which at 6-8 a day would last 3 months. I mentioned the ha to my doctor when i was 8 and he ignored me. I even took aspirin during all 3 pregnancies unaware that ASA were banned during pregnancy. Thank god for ASA because i was unwittingly anticoagulating myself and all 3 kids born healthy. All went well until i was 39 when the pain became unbearable. The pain had morphed into trigeminal neuralgia. The only drug that helped at all was oxycodone combined with ASA. It is now known that APS, due to microvascular clotting , causes ischemia in various parts of the body. In my case it was my brain initially and as it progressed, avascular necrosis of the jaw bone which compresses the trigeminal nerve. I had the equivalent of a tooth ache for many years. Trigeminal neuralgia is known as the suicide disease. Ask Dr Jerry Bouquot in Morgantown, WV. He is one of the doctors who first identified the jaw ischemia. WV should be very proud of him, an oral pathologist trained at MayoClinic and former chief of WV Dental School. I know he saved my life. Also speak with dr ronald brownfield. He practices at HIMG on 5170 route 60 east in Huntington. He continues treating me with multiple drugs, including oxycodone. He is a saint, even now I rrquire about 3 oxycodone(5mg) and 6 ASA per day. This does not always control my pain, but helps tremendously. Dont penalize me and others with chronic pain due to those who abuse it.

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Roy, THANK YOU for starting a brand new, current thread re: CDC'S 2016 Opioid Guideline for Doctors as it was sorely needed.

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THEY ARE HOLDING A CONFERENCE CALL OPEN TO THE PUBLIC TOMORROW MORNING!! It doesnt say the timezone but i assume east coast?

Time and Date: 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m., January 7, 2016 (OPEN).
Place: Teleconference Dial-In Number:
1-888-395-7561, Participant Code: 3954121.

Matters for Discussion: The Board of Scientific Counselors will discuss the background for development of the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain (Guideline) and the formation of the Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain Workgroup (Opioid Guideline Workgroup). We will be accepting public comments only related to the formation of the Opioid Guideline Workgroup. There will be 30 minutes allotted for public comments at the end of the session. All public comments will be limited to two-minutes per speaker.

Source: https:/­/­www.gpo.gov/­fdsys/­pkg/­FR-2015-12-14/­html/­2015-31367.htm

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I had a tough time finding what to do on that federal page so I finally figured it out. In case any one wants to know what is going on that page basically links to a pdf file with info on it if you wonder what they are specifically looking to do. See page 1 only. I found a paragraph where it says "The Guideline is not a federal regulation; adherence to the Guideline will be voluntary." So that is a bit of good news as far as this not being laws or anything but i can't say how many doctors will choose to "voluntarily" follow any new guidelines???

But we all know how that kind of thing starts. First it gains a bunch of attention and then all of a sudden the feds and dea decide it is time to make these "voluntary" guidelines into law, am i right? So I am submitting my comments to them and I think as many of us need to do this NOW before much else happens. I think doctors are nervous now and I don't blame them, but ultimately I don't think the lawmakers know how many legitimate patients suffer when changes are made to how and when we can get our meds. Silence is the only bad action we can take at this point.

So when you get to that government page near the top it says "This document has a comment period that ends in 7 days (01/13/2016)" and so you just click on "SUBMIT A FORMAL COMMENT". Just click on that button so you can fill out and send them a message. Tell them your story and that certain medicine lets you lead a quality of life.

Editor's note: Enabled live link to the pdf file above and also pasted the related paragraph which this user is referring to down below:

" CDC developed the draft Guideline to provide recommendations about opioid prescribing for primary care providers who are treating adult patients with chronic pain in outpatient settings, outside of active cancer treatment, palliative care, and end-of-life care. The draft Guideline summarizes scientific knowledge about the effectiveness and risks of long-term opioid therapy, and provides recommendations for when to initiate or continue opioids for chronic pain; opioid selection, dosage, duration, follow-up, and discontinuation; and assessing risk and addressing harms of opioid use. The draft Guideline identifies important gaps in the literature where further research is needed.

To develop the recommendations, CDC conducted a systematic review on benefits and harms of opioids and developed the draft Guideline using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) framework. CDC drafted recommendations and consulted with experts on the evidence to inform the recommendations. CDC hosted webinars in September 2015 and also provided opportunities for stakeholder and peer review of the draft Guideline. The Guideline is not a federal regulation; adherence to the Guideline will be voluntary. "

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