Changes in opioid-related deaths following increased access to opioid substitution treatment

Increased access to opioid substitution treatment in prisons is needed to ensure equivalence of care.

Association between opioid prescribing patterns and opioid overdose-related deaths.

CONTEXT The rate of prescription opioid-related overdose death increased substantially in the United States over the past decade. Patterns of opioid prescribing may be related to risk of overdose mortality. OBJECTIVE To examine the association of maximum prescribed daily opioid dose and dosing schedule ("as needed," regularly scheduled, or both) with risk of opioid overdose death among patien...

Substitution treatment for opioid addicts in Germany

BACKGROUND After a long and controversial debate methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) was first introduced in Germany in 1987. The number of patients in MMT--first low because of strict admission criteria--increased considerably since the 1990s up to some 65,000 at the end of 2006. In Germany each general practitioner (GP), who has completed an additional training in addiction medicine, is all...

Opioid substitution treatment is linked to reduced risk of death in opioid use disorder

Deaths related to the “epidemic” of opioid use disorder are inescapable realities in communities across North America, with tags like “the American Carnage” and “this generations’ AIDS crisis” in the lay press. Prescription opioids, heroin, and, more recently, fentanyl have all contributed to a precipitous rise in deaths related to opioid overdose. The global burden of opioid use disorder also ...

Impact of opioid substitution therapy for Scotland's prisoners on drug-related deaths soon after prisoner release.

AIM To assess whether the introduction of a prison-based opioid substitution therapy (OST) policy was associated with a reduction in drug-related deaths (DRD) within 14 days after prison release. DESIGN Linkage of Scotland's prisoner database with death registrations to compare periods before (1996-2002) and after (2003-07) prison-based OST was introduced. SETTING All Scottish prisons. PA...