RICHMOND, Va. -- CVS, one of the nation's largest pharmacies, is rolling out a new program that aims to curb the opioid epidemic by making it harder to get the drugs.
The pharmacy said under this new program, it will limit opioid prescriptions to seven days for certain conditions, including patients who are new to pain therapy.
CVS pharmacists will also talk to patients about the risks of addiction, securing medicine in a safe place, and properly disposing of the pain killers.
The pharmacy will also cap daily dosages, and only fill versions of the drugs that work for shorter time frames.
Erica Siefring
Twenty-five-year-old Erica Siefring is one of the millions of people across the U.S. who are battling opioid addiction.
Siefring said she started using painkillers at the age of 14 and by 16 she was using heroin.
Siefring, who sought help said she has been clean for 30 days clean, believes CVS' new program is a good thing.
"If it helps at least educate people," Siefring said. "Nobody really wants to be an addict, no one wants to grow up to be an addict."
Dr. James Thompson, CEO at the Virginia Center for Addiction Medicine in Richmond, said that while the pharmacy is taking the right steps, more to be done.
"It's a modest effort that looks good [and] it's not terribly controversial," Thompson said. "But I don't think is necessarily going to have a huge impact on what we are dealing with the problem that we are seeing here."
CVS, which manages medications for nearly 90 million customers across the country, plans to roll out the new changes on Feb. 1, 2018.
