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Zeroing In: Examining Katie McGinty’s college ‘spin’ and her even bigger campaign liability

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PHOTO GALLERY: Gallery for Greater Nanticoke Area Graduation

<p>The commentary &#8220;Be smart about opioid use&#8221; in Thursday&#8217;s edition is a nice idea but mostly misguided.</p><p>Dr. Scott Shapiro, of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, suggests that the patient needs to learn to ask questions of the doctor when he or she is given a prescription. That might be the case with non-addictive prescriptions, when the patient is of clear mind and body. But with a drug that has such a high risk of addiction, the responsibility should be on the doctor to inform the patient of those important questions.</p><p>It would appear to me that with the excessively large number of opioid prescriptions written, the patient should be provided both the questions and their answers. Having the patient sign an acknowledgment might help the individual to be more aware of the risks these drugs present.</p><p>By definition, a doctor is a teacher, and if they are so freely prescribing these high-risk drugs, the greater responsibility for their patient&#8217;s education should fall to the doctor.</p><p><strong>Dr. Richard Cohen</strong></p><p>Kingston</p><style>
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Letter to the Editor: With opioid prescriptions, doctors should shoulder responsibility of fully informing patients