New Guidelines on Opioid Prescriptions

The federal government is taking action on the addiction epidemic this week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put out new guidelines for prescribing opioid painkillers. They’re urging doctors to prescribe these powerful drugs only as a last resort. Increased use of painkillers has been linked to the heroin crisis. Overdoses from opioids and heroin reached a record peak in 2014. The latest numbers available show that more than 47,000 lives have been lost. What effect will the new guidelines have?