While progress is reported with the opioid abuse epidemic, prescription rates in most north state counties are above the statewide average. Nevada County’s rate is 971 prescriptions per 1,000 residents for 2016, according to the California Department of Public Health. But of the 8 surrounding counties, only 3 have lower rates than the statewide average of 600, which are Placer, Sacramento, and Sierra counties. Meanwhile, Nevada County Public Health Officer, Doctor Ken Cutler, says doctors are now prescribing more judiciously, which is dropping the rate…
Cutler says the Centers for Disease Control has also issued guidelines for doctors. And doctors are now required to register all prescriptions with a state monitoring program, in hopes of reducing duplications…
Cutler says there’s also a push to properly dispose of unused opioid prescriptions at home, to reduce abuse by other family members, especially teens. And there is also increased availability of the overdose reversing agent naloxone.
Anne Callaway
971 prescriptions per thousand residents? Is this figure accurate? That's almost one prescription for every resident!