IN THE NEWS: Orange County has one of the highest rates of prescription drug use and deaths in California. UCI Health pain management expert Dr. Padma Gulur tells KNBC 4 that one person in Orange County dies every other day from an accidental overdose of prescription medication.
“We prescribe these medications, but don’t have adequate safeguards in place to ensure that excess medications don’t flood our community,” Gulur said in an interview with Vikki Vargas.
Gulur is leading an Orange County coalition that is working to create and promote safe practices for prescribing opioid pain medications with the goal of combating drug overdose deaths while still serving patients who need pain relief.