The CDC must be removed from its role in attempting informal unauthorized regulations for prescription pain medications and medical practice guidelines, suggestions, or analyses. 

 

 The CDC guidelines have caused significant harm to more than one million people over the last four years, with no improvement in abuse, misuse, addiction or overdose deaths.  The current CDC Guidelines for Chronic “Opioid” (opiate pain medication) Use must be suspended immediately, as they are currently harmful to patients.   

 

Thankfully Mother Nature has provided a natural medicine, safer than most other prescription medications to the point that the statutorially appointed regulatory agency, the FDA, places no upper limits on opiate doses. These formal regulations cannot be superseded by informal attempts at regulating by the CMS and the CDC without clearance from the FDA first.

 

The CDC’s advising medical physician group, the Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing, (PROP), did, in fact, petition the FDA to limit dose and length of treatment but was denied  (see FDA public report 2012-P-0818). 

 

The CDC ignored the FDA denials and proceeded to create restrictive use “guidelines” using PROP as consultants but never listing actual use guidelines chronic painful diseases The word “opioid” is used by the CDC without attaching the words “pain medicines” to the pejorative “opioids” CDC, acting for from its congressional mandates painted a picture of opiate pain medications as “opioids”  that were so dangerous (a view held only by the CDC) and ineffective, the CDC announced they WERE NO LONGER THE DRUGS OF CHOICE for significant pain, leaving the only other pain medicine, Tylenol.  These became the words heard around the world and millions of Americans can attest to letting unauthorized federal agencies play doctor.

 

These pernicious guidelines must be suspended immediately due to daily ongoing harm.