Pain pills killed more than 30,000 Americans in 2015 according to latest data available from the Centers for Disease Control. What are officials doing about the deaths in Nevada?
In Nevada, 619 people died from prescription opioid overdoses in 2015. Many more died from heroin, giving our state one of the higher per capita rates in the country. So the Nevada Board of Medical Examiners launched a new website knowyourpainmeds.comto help people better understand the danger in the pills.
On the new website, you can file complaints against health care providers if you think they're not prescribing properly.
The site also has information on Nevada's Prescription Monitoring Program -- that's the database doctors use to check on a patient's prescription history.
You'll also find information on medications, like Narcan, that can counteract an overdose.
And for those in chronic pain, you can learn about alternatives to opioids.
The Medical Board worked with a group including the Nevada State Boards of Pharmacy and Nursing to get knowyourpainmeds.com up and running.
