Cali docs stingy with opioids

Doctors in California prescribe opioid painkillers at the second-lowest rate in the U.S., according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Researchers analyzed a commercial database run by IMS Health in measuring variation between states in the prescription of opioid medication, according to California Healthline. In 2012, California doctors prescribed 57 opioid pain relievers per 100 people, compared to 82.5 nationally. Only doctors in Hawaii prescribed opioids at a lower rate.

Meanwhile, a recent study in Florida—where lawmakers have cracked down on pain clinics dispensing high volumes of OxyContin, Vicodin and other narcotic painkillers—found that overdose deaths from the drugs have dropped by 26 percent over the last two years.