“The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing that beginning in 2019, initial opioid prescriptions for acute pain be limited to 7 days.
The agency is also suggesting in the 2018 Draft Call Letter that Medicare Part D prescription drug plans monitor patients who take medications considered to be “potentiators” of opioid misuse and opioid-related adverse events — specifically, gabapentin and pregabalin.
Noting an alarming increase in gabapentin use to treat pain and concurrent opioid and gabapentin use, CMS is asking for comment on whether it is useful to more closely monitor beneficiaries receiving these prescriptions.
The CMS proposal came as a US House committee took a closer look at Medicare’s oversight of opioid use. At the February 6 hearing, members of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee said there are few data on opioid use among older Americans and that Medicare has done a poor job of encouraging prevention and treatment.”
Read more at: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/892412 (log-in required)
Source: Medscape.com – February 7, 2018