Excessive Medications Often Prescribed After Surgeries
A recent study published in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) indicates that doctors are unnecessarily prescribing high amounts of opioid medications to patients after noninvasive surgeries. The amount and dosage of the opioid prescriptions may be excessive and are leading to dependent, addictive behaviors in some cases.
The data came from 155,297 adults who had undergone 4 common outpatient procedures including: gall bladder removal, knee surgeries, hernia repair and carpal tunnel repair. The researchers involved in the study (from the department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania) analyzed insurance claims from the years 2004 to 2012.
Alarmingly, the researchers found that 4 out of every 5 patients that were written an opioid prescription had the prescription filled within seven days of the surgery. It was also found that throughout the years 2004 and 2012, there was an increase of these prescriptions written in general. For example, there was an 18 percent increase of painkiller prescriptions written to patients who had knee surgeries.
It is recommended that physicians refrain from prescribing unnecessary medications. The obvious risks of a patient becoming addicted to these pills is enough to warn doctors. However, the less obvious risks, including children or other family members taking the extra pills, or individuals selling their pills to others, are certainly high enough to cause concern as well. If an opioid is necessary, the lowest dosage should be prescribed by the doctor and and the patient should be closely monitored.