By Ronald W. Chapman Sr., and
Ronald W. Chapman II
Prescription drug abuse is widely recognized as the fastest-growing drug problem in the United States.1 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fatal overdoses from prescription drugs in the U.S. have increased from approximately 4,000 deaths in 1999 to more than 41,000 deaths in 2013.2 As a result of such staggering statistics, physicians are under increased pressure to tailor their use of prescription narcotics while still