Ohio governor announces new limits on pain prescribing

COLUMBUS (AP) — Gov. John Kasich has announced new limits on painkiller prescribing as the state fights a worsening addictions epidemic.

The Republican governor was joined today by lawmakers and officials with Ohio health licensing boards to outline the new restrictions. They include barring doctors from prescribing more than seven days of narcotic pain pills for adults and more than five days for minors, among other new rules.

Officials say the new prescribing limits that apply to acute pain patients could reduce the number of addictive pills dispensed in Ohio by 109 million annually.

The governor and state medical leaders last year announced guidelines meant to reduce the prescribing of painkillers for short-term pain.

Ohio authorities are trying to slow an epidemic that last year killed a record 3,050 Ohioans.