Health Ministry slashes opioid prescriptions from 15 to five days

In a move to combat the rising tide of prescription opioid addiction, the Health Ministry says today that doctors will be legally barred from prescribing more than a five-day supply of the medication at any one time.

Under the new guidelines, the expiration period of handwritten prescriptions for opioids has been slashed from 15 days to five.

Opioids are highly potent painkillers categorized under Israeli law as dangerous substances, the ministry says. While they are vital for severe pain management, health officials reiterate that their capacity to suppress the central nervous system and induce euphoria makes them highly addictive, carrying a severe risk of dependency, overdose, and death when misused.

The ministry says the primary objective of the new regulation is to incentivize the medical community to transition to non-forgeable digital prescriptions to eliminate prescription fraud and clamp down on illicit drug sales.

The legislative step is part of a broader, multi-year strategic campaign spearheaded by the ministry and national health maintenance organizations (HMOs), which officials say has already yielded a measurable decline in domestic opioid consumption.