New federal rules are making it harder to get narcotic painkillers for veterans

JOLIET, Ill. - March 5, 2015 - PRLog -- Concerning the highly addictive painkillers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has termed this “the worst drug addiction epidemic in the country’s history, killing more people than heroin and crack cocaine.” Pain experts at the Veteran's Administration now say that in hindsight they have been overmedicating veterans.

A recent report released by an independent National Institutes of Health (NIH) panel about the need for individualized, patient-centered care to treat and monitor the estimated 100 million Americans living with chronic pain, concluded that widespread opioid use does not provide an effective single approach for the chronic pain patient.

The Joint Commission recently revised its pain management standard to include chiropractic services. Clinical experts in pain management working with the Commission affirmed that treatment strategies may consider both pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic approaches. Services provided by doctors of chiropractic are now included in the standard of care for pain management, effective January 2015.

Here is a statement from the American Chiropractic Association addressing this crisis.

http://www.acatoday.org/record_css.cfm?CID=5637