Alternatives to Opiates program

St. Joseph's Health in Paterson has the busiest emergency department in New Jersey and fourth busiest in the entire nation. Roughly 70,000 patients come through here every year. Many of them will see Dr. Alexis LaPietra, who is taking a new approach to pain management by making sure highly addictive narcotics stay out of patients' hands. The Emergency Medicine Pain Management Program's medical director said that whenever possible, "we want to try and avoid the opioid."