While this shows a slight improvement in those with acute sub-acute and chronic pain it says nothing for those with intractable pain. The fact remains that the original CDC Opioid Guidelines were so flawed in the fact that those 12 authors that wrote it, supposed experts really had no expertise in the area of opioid use to treat pain and had a duty to every living thing that their judgement affected and only fueled the addiction issues in this country and the rise in suicide rates. Though the CDC finally and quietly admitted that their statistics were off by half (I'm sure it's much higher) and that the authors did not differentiate between illegal (heroin) and legally prescribed opiates such as Vicoden, Norco, Morphine, and Dilauded...they also didn't add to their statistics those that died from taking rx opioids mixed wth alcohol or those who failed to take their opioids as directed. Those that did may have done so in order to relieve increasing pain because of the shame in how people in pain have been forced to feel for something we have no control over, while others may have intentionally did so because of the hardships we've faced due to being hurt by injury, illness, or surgical intervention. The CDC is solely responsible for the deaths of people who were forced tapered to fast or cut off and fired by their treating physician. Furthermore people who have successfully taken their benzodiazepines and opioids,  in many cases for decades were forced to choose between treating pain or treating the thoughts associated with severe nonstop pain and the PTSD that many now have due to being treated so horribly by (so called) medical professionals. The CDC had a duty to investigate exactly how their guidelines would affect those that truly needed them and their benzos. It is nothing less than humiliating and degrading to be treated like we are 4th waivers and forced to provide a urinalysis in order to receive another month's supply of pain relief, knowing that false positives are the norm now. In some cases I would venture to even say that those who had a postive UA or a UA that showed zero opiods, (which would mean they were being diverted) was done intentionally and instead of investigating further labs cut off these patients in such a cold-hearted manner then had that put in the electronic medical record so that any future possible treating physicians would see that red flag and refuse to treat anything but the pain. Trying to find a new doctor in this hostile climate is next to impossible as it is but with a red flag it is certain that while they may agree to be your new doctor they will not treat your pain, just yours and those like the others that have had false postive UA's. The new doctor will know all about you before you arrive and from the moment they enter the exam room they will not even give you eye contact so that they can more easily deny you the care you need. Not only do these authors deserve to not work in medical investigation some have gone on to make other career choices to include being paid for expert witnesses in lawsuits earning at least half a million per, Andrew Kolodny should have never been a part of the 2016 guidelines while CEO of a drug rehab as he had personal interest in doing so, getting rich off the backs of those he helped force into withdrawal by having them declared being addicted so to safely detox would need rehab. The money he had raked in should be given to the families whose loved ones died because they are the ones that have been in an uproar that began when their child (adult) wanted to make someone else responsible. Many of the people who have gone on to addiction didn't begin with an rx of their own many were given it by someone else which made them feel better in a way that changed the way they felt in their head. Made them want more, like the heroin addict will say that that first high will have you chasing it into an early grave if not jails, prisons and other instituions. Another fact who has the right to call anyone an addict. Even in Narcotics Anonymous you are not considered an addict until you raise your hand and say Hi my name is _____and I'm an addict. Likewise, I believe that when someone is able to beat their addiction they should be able to say My name is____and I am not an addict. No one has a right to to label someone especially someone with intractable pain. People in pain we can't handle all the hoops we are forced to jump thru to get another month's supply of quality of life which is minimal because of the mme that we require to control pain,  we'd rather die trying to get quality of life than live a life in pure hell. Knowing that there is medication that has been manufactured for the purpose of treating pain but cannot get it, its a fate worse than death and I find it ironic that the makers of opioids like oxycontin needed permission of the federal government to manufacture these opioids then turned around decades later to sue them for what they were permitted to do by law. So when I was profiled for being a drug seeker and denied an MRI which would have showed the horrific injuries but was denied I didn't merit one said er Dr., and nothing for pain for the misdiagnosis I received bruised coccyx plus drug tested by telling me they were checking for internal bleeding not knowing I worked in Healthcare myself, I gave it in hopes of receiving better treatment and though my drug screen came back "nothing worth noting" I was treated like the black plague and it took 6 months and at the order of another specialist to give me the MRI to see I had actually broke my back, ejected the disc between L4 and L5 which caused a vertebral collapse and cervicogenic migraines and a left anterior 2nd rib fracture, well if that makes me a drug seeker, then shame on them at the medical community in Spokane WA and the CDC for creating this huge problem that had affected 124+million people. Oh and let me add that the statistics are constantly changing as our world becomes more populated was that figured in? I doubt it.