New website will help Nevadans understand perils of opioid medications
CARSON CITY — The state medical board has launched a new website designed to help Nevadans understand the impacts of using opioid-based medications.
The knowyourpainmeds.com website created by the state Board of Medical Examiners will also serve as a portal for consumers to file a complaint if they feel their medical provider is not acting appropriately related to the prescribing of medications.
“The Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners understands the impact of the opioid epidemic and the tragic effect on the citizens of Nevada,” said Edward Cousineau, executive director of the board. “We feel that the launch of this new informational tool clearly demonstrates the board’s commitment to creating awareness and our efforts to address this problem.”
Opioid abuse is expected to be a significant issue for the Nevada Legislature this session.
Gov. Brian Sandoval held a Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Summit in September, and it generated a laundry list of recommendations to reduce opioid abuse in Nevada, several of which are expected to be included in a legislative package.
Suggestions from about 400 health care professionals, politicians and others attending the two-day summit included identifying physicians and others who over-prescribe opioids, ensuring that patients who abuse drugs are connected with rehabilitation services and increasing access to the overdose-reversing drug naloxone.
Opioid medications contributed to the deaths of more than 28,000 people in the U.S. in 2014, more than any other year on record. At least half of those deaths were attributed to prescription pills, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC reports that Clark County has a mortality from drug overdoses and opioid poisonings that were 50 and 70 percent higher than comparable national rates, respectively, from 2012 to 2014.
The objective in developing the new website is to increase awareness of opioid medications and the potential health impacts when these powerful medications are prescribed.
Contact Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-3820. Follow @seanw801 on Twitter.
