Out with the old and in with the new: Preventing child opioid addiction through over‐the‐counter medications.

Opioids are killing America's youth. New data confirms that children under 18 who are prescribed opioids by a medical doctor develop a heightened risk of future drug addiction. Currently, there are no national prescribing guidelines for opioids in the pediatric population. However, doctors recently started to administer an over‐the‐counter medicine combination of Advil and Tylenol to patients because it is more effective at relieving pain than prescription opioids and prevents addiction. Thus, drafting national legislation to limit the circumstances under which a child is eligible to receive an opioid prescription will save countless children from a life of future addiction. Key Points for the Family Law Community: Pediatric medical practices have been largely derived from adult practices.Dentists are the second‐highest prescribers of opioids in the medical profession.20% of American children take at least one prescription medication for pain management.6% of people who misuse prescription opioids transition to heroin.A 2017 study revealed a 33% drop in opioid prescriptions by oncologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]