New guidelines create an 'Oxy-free' ED.

In the face of recent increases in prescription medication addiction, overdose, and deaths, the EDs at several Swedish Medical Center hospitals in the Seattle area have severely restricted the dispensation of Schedule II narcotics. ED physicians are cautious about which patients receive addictive and dangerous drugs. Guidelines are applied not only to abusers, but to all patients across the board. When patients are prescribed Schedule II medications, they receive a limited number of doses.