Sen. Gillibrand unveils new legislation to combat opioid crisis

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was in Putnam County Monday to unveil new legislation aimed at combatting the opioid crisis by cracking down on the over-prescription of painkillers.
Sen. Gillibrand stood with families of addicts at Putnam Hospital Center to announce legislation that will limit initial prescriptions of opioids for acute pain to seven days.
"When someone gets a wisdom tooth out, breaks their wrist, they only need medicine for a few days,” said Sen. Gillibrand. “Then why are they sent home from the doctor’s office with 30 pills of oxycodone?"
The limit does not apply to things like treatment of chronic pain, cancer and end of life care.
The bill is modeled after a New York state law that went into effect earlier this year.