Pew Trusts: As doctors cut back on opioid prescriptions, abuse of Gabapentin rises

By Christine Vestal
Pew Trusts
Doctors who are cutting back on prescribing opioids increasingly are opting for gabapentin, a safer, non-narcotic drug recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
By doing so, they may be putting their opioid-using patients at even greater risk.
Recently, gabapentin has started showing up in a substantial number of overdose deaths in hard-hit Appalachian...