New Treatment Guidance for Pregnant Mothers with Opioid Use Disorder
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released new Clinical Guidance for Treating Pregnant and Parenting Women with Opioid Use Disorder and Their Infants. SAMHSA’s Clinical Guidance comes at a time of great need for effective opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment. In 2016, over 20,000 pregnant women reported using heroin or misusing pain relievers in the past month. Newborn babies of mothers who used opioids while pregnant are at risk of neonatal abstinence syndrome–a group of physical and neurobehavioral signs of withdrawal. The guidance, which consists of 16 fact sheets on prenatal, infant, and maternal postnatal care,…
New Study Results on Opioid Use and Pain
A study of more than 100,000 surgical cases at University of Virginia (UVA) Health System found patients’ pain scores improved even as doctors gave fewer opioids. Two key factors were associated with this finding: Opioids make patients more sensitive to pain, though the reason why that occurs is unclear. So reducing the amount of opioids given to patients might by itself improve pain scores. UVA began implementing the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery program, which increased the use of non-opioid pain medications, such as lidocaine and acetaminophen, which is commonly used in over-the-counter pain medications. Click HERE for more on this…
Opiate Impact in 2015
The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the country is in fact dealing with multiple opioid epidemics right now — each with a distinct geographic footprint. Click HERE for more on this story
North Carolina Medical Board Calls Attention to Prescription Drug Overdoses
Across Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Gaston, Cleveland, Union and Anson counties, 134 people died from opioid overdoses in 2015. The North Carolina Medical Board is trying to stop addiction and prevent overdoses by analyzing doctors’ prescribing records and the steps they take to prevent and identify patient misuse of painkillers. “It is critical that we look at it because even one overdose or narcotic opioid poisoning is too many,” said Dr. Mark Romanoff (the Charlotte physician on the committee that created the new investigative program). The medical board is investigating 12 doctors who are considered high-dose prescribers and 60 physicians who had…
PDMPs Linked to Reductions in Opioid Overdose Deaths
New research funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found that state implementation of prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) was associated with a reduction in opioid-related overdose deaths. The study, published in Health Affairs, also found that PDMPs that monitored greater numbers of drugs with abuse potential and updated their data more frequently had greater declines in opioid-related overdose deaths than programs without those characteristics. Click HERE for more on this story
The Safe Opioid Prescribing Initiative
Doctors who over-prescribe OxyContin, Percocet and other narcotic painkillers known as opioids are widely seen as partly responsible for a dramatic rise in drug overdose deaths over the last two decades. Fatal overdoses kill more than 1,000 people a year in North Carolina and nearly half involve prescriptions written within 60 days of the victim’s death. Regulators seeking to curb deaths are now using a statewide database to spot potentially reckless prescribing. Click HERE for more on this story
Public Health Leaders Urge Far-Reaching Reforms to Curb Prescription Opioid Epidemic
A group of experts, led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, issued recommendations aimed at stemming the prescription opioid epidemic, a crisis that kills an average of 44 people a day in the U.S. The report calls for changes to the way medical students and physicians are trained, prescriptions are dispensed and monitored, first responders are equipped to treat overdoses, and those with addiction are identified and treated. The report, titled “The Prescription Opioid Epidemic: An Evidence-Based Approach,” breaks its recommendations into seven categories: Prescribing Guidelines Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs)…
The Role of Physicians in Addressing Prescription Med Abuse
According to the National Institute for Drug Abuse, more than 100 million people in this country suffer from chronic pain, and for some opioid therapy may be the only option for relief. Physicians often walk a thin line in the desire to confront the public health emergency while upholding our oath to reduce the suffering of our patients. Robert E. Schaaf, M.D., president of the N.C. Medical Society, says “We, as physicians and physician assistants, have a responsibility to stop the abuse of opioids, as it saps the human and economic resources of our state and country.” This responsibility includes the…
DEA Schedule Changes for Opioids
Prescription medication abuse has become an issue of great concern. The DEA moved hydrocodone combination pills, also known as opioids, from a Schedule III to a Schedule II drug. The final ruling goes into effect in 45 days. Drugs are categorized into one of five “schedules” by the DEA based on “whether they have a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, their relative abuse potential and their likelihood of causing dependence when abused.” Other drugs, such as Adderall and morphine, are also labeled as Schedule II. Now, in order to use these drugs, patients will have…
Prescription Drug Abuse Resource
Protect Your Kids provides helpful information about prescription drug abuse, prevention and intervention.