Smart Talk: opioid prescribing, Sunbury’s police department

 

What to look for on Smart Talk Friday, March 18, 2016:

What role do primary care providers play in the opioid crisis that has killed thousands of Pennsylvanians?

This week, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines on prescribing opioids like OxyContin and Percocet.

Pennsylvania has its own set of voluntary recommendations too.

Again, these are all voluntary.

So will health care professionals cut back on the number of opioid prescriptions?

And what other options do they have to treat pain?

We’ll talk it over with Dr. Chris Echterling, a medical director with WellSpan, and Dr. Robert Rodak, president of the Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians.

Then, the city of Sunbury is dealing with a controversy in its police force.

An outside report released earlier this week finds the city’s former police chief erased cell phone records while an internal investigation was underway.

Investigators call the department’s internal investigation fatally flawed, biased, and unprofessional.

Keystone Crossroads reporter Emily Previti, who was a part of the effort to make the report public, joins us to discuss the issue.

Plus, Marc Levy of the Associated Press will be along to talk about a busy week at the Capitol, including the House voting to legalize some uses of medical marijuana.