Opioids are efficacious analgesics that also have considerable addictive properties. In recent years, the United States has faced an opioid abuse epidemic.1 The rate of fatal overdoses from prescription opioids has quadrupled.2 National prescribing guidelines recently announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are intended to curb the excessive clinical use of opioids, and to promote evidence-based therapies for patients who develop OD.3
