 The United States is in crisis. As the highest prescriber of opioids in the world, the U.S. has created a dangerous oversupply of powerful, addictive drugs. How can orthopedic surgeons help? A new study suggests that offering patients optional opioid prescriptions could help curb the number of unused opioids circulating in the community. The study's findings are reported in the September issue of the American Journal of Sports Medicine. Doctors enrolled 105 patients undergoing arthroscopic partial minisectomy, providing them multimodal pain control with aspirin, acetaminophen, and naproxen. Patients were then randomized into two groups. One received the opioid oxycodone as part of their multimodal pain medication. The other was given an optional oxycodone prescription to fill. The research team contacted the patients over the ensuing month to assess opioid use and medication side effects. There was no significant difference in the number of tablets utilized between the two groups, the number of days that the opioids were required, or post-operative pain at any time point. However, the group given the option to fill their opioid prescription had significantly fewer unused tablets remaining than when the opioid was made part of their pain control regimen, 75% of potentially prescribed tablets versus 82%. Patients were aware of the group to which they were assigned, which may have influenced how they approached their opioid use, and the study did not account for other factors that could have influenced drug use, such as underlying disease, length of treatment with non-opioid treatment before surgery, and pre-operative pain scores. But the significant difference in the number of remaining tablets between the two groups could be instructive. Giving patients the option to fill the prescription might be one way to reduce the number of unused opioids circulating in communities without altering post-operative pain control.