Prescription Drug Overdose and the Role of Health Care Providers

Current and evidence based prescribing practices alongside with patient education are relevant steps necessary to address the negative impact of prescription drug overdoses in Connecticut. Health care professionals who prescribe these opioid based medications have the responsibility to help ensure the safe and effective use of them.

Clinical Guidelines on Prescribing Opioids for Treatment of Pain:

An appropriate standard of care permits the use of controlled substances including opioid analgesics in the treatment of acute pain due to trauma or surgery and chronic pain due to cancer or non-cancer origins. Consequently, all prescribers and health care professionals should become knowledgeable about assessing patients’ pain and effective methods of pain treatment. The Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) supports reasonable guidelines that adopt the basic principles stated in the Federation of State Medical Board (FSMB) Guidelines. Some of the guidelines available in Connecticut include:

Information on applying for a physician waiver to prescribe or dispense buprenorphrine under the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA 2000) Click here.

Statement of the Connecticut Medical Examining Board on the Use of Controlled Substances for the Treatment of Pain [Endorsed by the Connecticut Medical Examining Board]

Guidelines to help Emergency Department (ED) medical staff treat patients with chronic pain conditions who come to the ED [Endorsed by the Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA), the Connecticut State Medical Society (CSMS), and the Connecticut Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians (CCEP)]

For more information, please call

The Office of Injury and Violence Prevention

(860) 509-8251

Connecticut State Department of Public Health

Prescription Drug Overdose and the Role of Health Care Providers