title: newyork  le lâcher de confettis prévu à times square remplacé par un lâcher de mouchoirs en papier  le gorafi
text: vermont fights the opioid epidemic by limiting prescribed painkillers 
  thursday october   by daniel barker tags prescriptions  opioids  vermont naturalnews vermont gov peter shumlin is planning to combat his states opioid problem by limiting the number of painkillers that can be prescribedthe governors proposal is part of his strategy to address what has become a severe crisis in vermont over the past few yearsin a statement shumlin saidvermont and the rest of america will not get a handle on the opiate and heroin addiction crisis until we confront headon the source of the problem fdaapproved opiates that are handed out like candyvermont doctors and providers have been on the leading edge of curbing the irrational exuberance with which opiates are handed out these proposed limits will solidify that progress and help vermont continue to lead the nation when it comes to combating this crisis oxycontin lit the match that ignited americas opiate and heroin addiction crisis shumlin has been outspoken regarding the opioid epidemic  and believes that the easy availability of drugs like oxycontin and other powerful opioid painkillers is the driving factor behind the problemin this years state of the state address shumlin castigated the fda and big pharma over oxycontin a drug which he said lit the match that ignited americas opiate and heroin addiction crisisjust a few months ago the fda approved oxycontin for kids he said you cant make this stuff up the  billion a year opiate industry in america knows no shamethe new guidelines are intended to limit the number of pills that can be prescribed  after a minor procedure only nine to  pills would be included in the first prescriptionwithout such restrictions the amount of pills prescribed can vary widely according to state health commissioner harry chen this can lead to addiction or the potential for overdose chen said that in  enough opioids were prescribed in vermont to give every man woman and child a bottle of  oxycodone tabletsthe proposal would also require doctors to discuss the risks of opioid use with patients and gain informed consent before prescribing painkillers doctors will be expected to discuss alternatives with their patients requiring them to consider other treatments before opioids are prescribed rather than as a last resort said chen how big pharma created  million opioid addicts waiting for the federal government to effectively tackle the opioid epidemic is a waste of time for decades the fda and dea looked the other way while big pharma quietly began turning a significant portion of the american public into drug addictsaggressive marketing by pharmaceutical companies led to the widespread use of opioids to manage longterm chronic pain  as opposed to using opioids only for acute pain or palliative purposespurdue  the maker of oxycontin  lied to the public saying that the timerelease properties of its drug made it less addictive than other opioids in  purdue pleaded guilty to having misled regulators physicians and patients and ended up paying  million in fines but the epidemic continuesopioid prescriptions in the us more than doubled between  and  and there are an estimated  million american opioid abusers more than  americans die each day from prescription opioids and all the federal government does is drag its feet and make promisesin fact the fda seems to be trying to make opioids even more available  to children no lessin  the fda approved the limited use of oxycontin for children between the ages of  and none of this may seem too surprising when one takes into account the fact that big pharma spent nearly  million in lobbying and campaign contributions between  and until we can stop the flow of money from opioid sales into the pockets of drugmakers and politicians we should expect the epidemic to continue unabated sources