Researchers reduce opioid prescriptions by 8 percent at UW Health clinics
By Luisa de Vogel | Feb. 8, 2018Overdose deaths as the result of prescription opioid use rose 600 percent in Wisconsin from 2000 to 2016, according to the Department of Health Services. However, UW-Madison researchers think they have developed a program to curb overdose-related deaths in the state by laying out guidelines for when and how doctors should prescribe opioids. “Reducing the overall supply (of opioids) is important from the population health perspective,” Dr. Randall Brown, an associate professor of family medicine, told the Wisconsin State Journal. The program includes mental health screening to identify and properly treat patients who may be at a higher risk for opioid addiction as a result of conditions such as depression and yearly urine tests.
