FaegreBD Consulting principal and former Congresswoman Mary Bono co-authored an op-ed for USA Today on the growing epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse in the U.S. Bono—along with co-authors retired Major General Arthur T. Dean, CEO of Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA), and Jeffrey Levi, executive director of the Trust for America's Health—cited a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistic that nearly 260 million prescriptions for opioids were written in 2012, an increase that mirrors the rise in deaths related to painkiller abuse, which quadrupled from 1999 to 2013.

Bono and her co-authors called for action from "stakeholders of all perspectives" to develop a "comprehensive plan" to combat the spread of opioid abuse. They also discussed the complexity inherent in addressing abuse of a prescription drug that must be accessible to patients in need and advocated widespread efforts to educate the public on the dangers of opioid abuse.

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