Health Officials are Concerned with People Being Overprescribed to Painkillers

Medical consumer advocates are concerned that powerful painkillers are being overprescribed.

FOX’s Rachel Sutherland reports from Washington:

If you’re in pain, the doctor will most likely ask you to rate your discomfort on a scale of one to ten and you may be asked to fill out a questionnaire detailing what you’re experiencing.

Now, critics of how painkillers are prescribed are calling on health officials to revise hospital procedures to manage pain, on concern the current system encourages doctors to overprescribe addictive medications like Vicodin and OcyContin.

Non-profit groups and medical experts sent a letter to the Joint Commission, the agency that accredits U.S. hospitals, asking it to revisit pain management standards. Only hospitals that have been accredited can receive payments from Medicare and Medicaid, making the group’s standards highly influential.

In Washington, Rachel Sutherland, FOX News.