Curing the opioid crisis

Even as more than 64,000 people in America died in 2016 of drug overdoses – 40 a day from prescription opioids alone – doctors continued promiscuously writing prescriptions for the drivers of this horrifying epidemic. Far too many physicians haven’t changed their prescribing habits, even in the face of government guidance, state restrictions, heavy news coverage and studies showing the advantages of other painkillers.

On Monday, President Trump announced his latest plan to deal with the epidemic. His call for emulating countries that execute drug dealers garnered most of the headlines. But he also set a goal of reducing opioid prescriptions by one-third over the next three years, and ensuring that federally reimbursed prescriptions follow best practices.

Physicians, many of them well-meaning, helped fuel the crisis by handing out opioids like candy. Some are even profiting from their association with opioid makers. Opioid manufacturers paid hundreds of doctors six-figure sums for speaking, consulting and other services in 2014 and 2015, according to an analysis by CNN and Harvard researchers published last week.At the very least, shouldn’t money from manufacturers that originally marketed these drugs as non-addictive, and helped produce a generation of addicts, be considered off-limits? Shouldn’t doctors and their associations be embarrassed by such relationships and call for them to end?