Audit: Hospitals put Native Americans at risk with opioids
(WorldNews Health)

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) - Government hospitals placed Native American patients at increased risk for opioid abuse and overdoses, failing to follow their own protocols for prescribing and dispensing the drugs, according to a federal audit released Monday. The report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services` Office of Inspector General doesn`t draw any conclusions about actual abuse or overdoses. But it said all five Indian Health Service hospitals it reviewed had patients who were given opioids in amounts that exceeded federal guidelines. kAmQ%96C6 2C6 GF=?6C23:=:E:6D H:E9 E9:D A2CE:4F=2C A@AF=2E:@? :? E96 @A:@:5 AC6D4C:3:?8 2?5 5:DA6?D:?8 AC24E:46Dk^Am kAm%96 @G6C5@D6 6A:56>:4...