At the time, CDC data ranked Oklahoma 6th in the country for opioid prescriptions dispensed per capita.
Stewart is now the Policy Director of P3Alliance, whose mission is to protect patients by raising awareness of “accurate and politically neutral information on the opioid crisis.” She has become an activist herself as a chronic pain sufferer. A two-time cancer survivor, she has undergone more than a dozen surgeries.
SB1446 started to affect him before it became law, when his pain management doctor cut his medication.
“It’s an environment where everyone is afraid to write prescriptions because of the stigma,” Stewart said in an interview with Tulsa World in 2018.
Tally said a voter approached her asking for the study “to get honest answers” on safe and effective opioid prescriptions.
“Come and find out that there are people who need opioids to do it every day,” he said, adding that he knows the lawmakers who need daily pain management. small amounts.
Of course, with any drug comes the potential for harmful use, and Tally said it’s important to weed out bad actors “claiming a toothache so they can get 50 pills.”