(C) Virginia Mercury
This story was originally published by Virginia Mercury and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



To save lives and benefit our communities, patients need vital information about opioids • Virginia Mercury [1]

['Richard Jackson', 'More From Author', 'March', 'Md']

Date: 2024-03-06

Even as Virginia receives millions from legal settlements with pharmaceutical manufacturers to help address the opioid crisis throughout the state, a record number of our neighbors, our friends, and our youth continue to die of opioid overdoses.

With these funds and enforcement actions, we can, we must, still do more than just address this crisis. As a Board-certified physician in both internal medicine and critical care, I see firsthand the devastating impact of opioids across the commonwealth every day.

At the Capitol in Richmond, legislators have advanced House Bill 699, important legislation that would require patients being prescribed an opioid to also be provided warnings about the risks of addiction and overdose associated with opioid drugs. Specifically, this information would include that opioids are highly addictive, even when taken as prescribed. The bill would also require that patients be provided information on any alternative treatments that may be available.

The impact of the opioid crisis on our youth is especially heartbreaking. My parents instilled in me the importance of education and community; everyone has dreams and aspirations, including young people. If we allow opioids to rob our youth of their opportunity to obtain an education and contribute to our community, the world loses the potential they had to offer.

It’s encouraging that our General Assembly representatives have moved positively on this bill. Now, hopefully the governor will sign it and allow the quick dissemination of important patient information this legislation calls for. Many lives depend on it.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://virginiamercury.com/2024/03/06/to-save-lives-and-benefit-our-communities-patients-need-vital-information-about-opioids/

Published and (C) by Virginia Mercury
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/virginiamercury/

You are viewing proxied material from magical.fish. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.