Ohio clinicians are getting new guidelines aimed at curbing prescription drug abuse.
The move comes as overdose drug deaths driven largely by painkiller addictions have surpassed car crashes as the leading cause of accidental death in Ohio.
Gov. John Kasich's administration along with professional groups and state licensing boards released the guidelines Monday.
Prescribers are encouraged to use an online drug reporting system to find out how much pain medication a patient is getting. A new tool will let clinicians see more easily whether a patient has reached a daily dose of 80 milligrams of morphine. That's the daily equivalent of 18 tabs of 30-milligram Tylenol with codeine.
For certain patients at that morphine dosage for more than three months, prescribers are urged to reevaluate their pain management plans.