Opiate Crisis: Ohio lawmakers want to curb over-prescribing

In the battle against the opioid addiction crisis gripping Ohio, state lawmakers are looking at cracking down on the over-prescribing powerful painkillers.

Germantown resident Scott Weidle, whose son Daniel died of a drug overdose in December 2015, is pushing to replace Ohio’s opioid prescribing guidelines with those recommended by the federal Centers for Disease Control.

Related: 2016 deadliest year for overdoses, fentanyl deaths more than double

Under Senate Bill 119, sponsored by Republican state Sens. Bob Hackett of London and Jay Hottinger of Newark, dentists would be required to complete at least eight hours of training and use electronic medical records systems before being allowed to prescribe opioids. The State Dental Board would also establish limits on how much dentists would be allowed to furnish to patients.

Also, the bill calls for physicians treating chronic pain with a controlled substance or tramadol to complete at least eight hours of training related to addiction, use electronic medical records and face limits on how much they may furnish.

Doctors who determine a chronic pain patient no longer benefits from receiving tramadol or a controlled substance must follow CDC guidelines for tapering or discontinuing the medication.

Daniel Weidle suffered from anxiety and attention deficit disorder as a child and began self-medicating, according to DanielsStory.org. After rehabilitation, he was prescribed anti-anxiety medication but later relapsed and started using heroin.

His father said on the website that Daniel had difficulty obtaining access to Vivitrol, a medication that quashes cravings for heroin and opiates. He died at age 30.

Related: Overdose epidemic: 6 things that explain the crisis

Hackett and Hottinger introduced the bill Tuesday and plan to hold a press conference on it Wednesday morning.

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