From SERMO: Today the largest global social network exclusively for physicians, with 800,000 members, released new data that points to federal policies and pharmaceutical companies as primary drivers of the opioid epidemic.

More than half (52 percent) of physicians polled on SERMO said that they agree with the decision of Ohio's Attorney General, Mike DeWine, to file suit against five major manufacturers of opioid medications. An additional 66 percent agreed with DeWine's assessment that manufacturers of opioids victimized both patients and physicians through misleading marketing campaigns that downplayed addiction risks.

U.S. physicians overwhelmingly agree that policies establishing pain as a "fifth vital sign" were a "major contributor" to the opioid crisis, by a margin of 73 percent to 26 percent. Notably, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services moved last year to strike pain management questions from the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey, which impacts hospital reimbursements from the agency. At the time, CMS noted that physicians indicated the financial link between HCAHPS scores and reimbursements was a driver of overprescribing opioid medications.