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Research Finds Patients With Mental Illness Prescribed Disproportionate Share Of Opioids

Published: Tuesday, August 29, 2017 - 4:37pm
Updated: Thursday, August 31, 2017 - 2:12pm
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There’s been a lot of talk, both on this program and elsewhere, about the opioid epidemic the state and country are facing.

But within that epidemic, new research shows patients suffering from mental illness are being prescribed a disproportionate share of these painkillers.

Brian Sites led that research. He's an anesthesiologist and professor at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire.

For another perspective, we turn now to Paul Gionfriddo, president/CEO of Mental Health America, a Virginia-based non-profit that works to address the needs of people with mental illness.

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