Report proposes approach to opioid prescribing guidelines for acute pain

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommends two frameworks that medical professional societies, health care organizations, and state, national and local agencies could use to develop clinical practice guidelines for prescribing opioids to manage acute pain. Requested by the Food and Drug Administration, the report also identifies surgical procedures and acute medical conditions for which evidence-based guidelines would be desirable. Janet Woodcock, M.D., director of FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said the agency will consider the recommendations as it develops evidence-based prescribing guidelines for treating acute pain in therapeutic areas for which guidelines do not exist.