Last month, the North Carolina Medical Board opened investigations on physicians who had two or more patients die from prescription painkiller overdoses in a one-year period, according to The News Tribune.
Here are four things to know:
1. The North Carolina Medical Board's 2015 Annual Report showed that the board investigated only about 100 complaints in which prescribing was the primary issue, despite the state having about 45,000 licensed physicians, physicians assistants, physician residents and other medical professionals, all of whom the agency oversees.
2. In 2012, a man from North Carolina died after receiving prescriptions for a total of 145 opioid pills. The man sought prescription painkillers after a routine tonsillectomy.
3. The board investigated complaints filed by the man's mother against Mark W. Clarkson, MD, the physician who prescribed the pills, and Bridget Thompson, Dr. Clark's physician assistant, but the board determined it should not take any public disciplinary action.
4. The 2015 investigations into the 2012 death resulted in 24 public sanctions for improper prescribing.
