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Gillibrand proposes bill to stop over-prescribing of opioids

Chris Caya WBFO News

With no end in sight to the number of people dying from a fatal drug overdose, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is pushing a bill that she says could help.

To help end the opioid epidemic, Gillibrand is proposing a bill that would require the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue guidelines for the safe prescribing of opioids.

During a visit to Buffalo on Friday, Gillibrand said currently there are no guidelines and people are getting more medicine than they need.

"It's the same story over and over again. When someone gets a wisdom tooth out or breaks a wrist and they need only medication for three days, why are they being sent home enough for 30 days? This legislation would finally give us the tools we need to start fighting back against over-prescription. It would finally give us a way to reign in one of the clearest causes of opioid addiction," Gillibrand said.  

Opioid addiction is "severe" across all of New York state, according to the senator. She says with 51 Americans dying from a fatal drug overdose everyday, the stakes are far too high to ignore.