Every day, 91 Americans die from opioid (prescription drugs or heroin) overdoses. This is the worst drug epidemic in the history of the United States.

How can emergency physicians help patients manage pain without accidentally getting them addicted to prescription opioids?

While federal and local governments have been slow to respond to this health crisis, individual hospitals and medical centers have launched their own initiatives to begin tackling the problem of opioid abuse. Recognizing that prescription opiates are often the first step toward opioid addiction, St. Joseph’s Health Care System (Paterson, New Jersey), made the decision to drastically reduce the number of opioid prescriptions originating from their own Emergency Department while offering outstanding pain control options to their patients.

How did St. Joseph’s tackle this problem? Watch the video.