(Dover, Del) - The Delaware Division of Professional Regulation has released new rules that doctors will be required to follow when they prescribe opiate pain medication in the first state.
The new regulations were announced Wednesday February 2, 2017 and go into effect April 1.
According to the new regulations Doctors, Advanced Practice Nurses and Dentists will find it harder to issue more than a seven day supply of opiate medication to adult patients receiving their first prescription for pain. The rules also cap all opiate prescriptions for the treatment of acute pain in minors at a seven-day supply.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Delaware ranks first in the nation for the rate at which doctors prescribe certain high-dose opioids.