One week before New Jersey's law on prescription painkillers – one of the toughest in the nation – is set to take effect, many doctors say they are unclear about various aspects of it, and are concerned that it may be too severe.
One week before New Jersey implements one of the nation's toughest regulations of prescription opioids, doctors are raising concerns it could go too far.
The law limits initial opioid prescriptions for acute pain to a five-day supply, though it allows doctors to renew it for another 25 days if a patient remains in pain. But as a measure of the stricter checks and balances, the new rules call for doctors to have a consultation with a patient about a request for a prescription renewal to ensure it is really needed.
