Much of the recent attention on the nation’s prescription drug epidemic has focused on corrupt or negligent doctors. But there’s another significant problem in the medical community -- many physicians are routinely prescribing powerful drugs like Vicodin and Oxycontin because they don’t know how addictive and dangerous they can be. A two-year program at Kaiser Permanente has drastically reduced the number of prescriptions for these brand name drugs by teaching front-line doctors how to safely prescribe pain medication.
