BACKGROUND Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are proving to be valuable resources in fighting the prescription drug abuse epidemic through improved access to patient drug histories. Ninety-four percent of Indiana pharmacists have heard of Indiana's PDMP (INSPECT), only 71% of them reported using the program in 2012. OBJECTIVE To identify barriers to PDMP use in outpatient pharmaci...

Opioid dependence is a chronic relapsing disorder with an excess mortality rate [1-4]. Over than 90% of the estimates relate to heroin, as demonstrated in a global literature review by Degenhardt et al. [5]. Opioid maintenance treatment has proven efficacy in reducing opioid consumption and psychosocial and medical morbidity and in increasing treatment retention rates and social functioning in ...

drug utilization evaluation (due) is an effective program to identify variability in drug use and to support interventions that will improve patient outcomes. the appropriate use of enoxaparin, a low molecular weight heparin (lmwh), which is widely used as curative or preventive treatment of thromboembolic disorders was assessed in the study. a prospective due was carried out at masih daneshvar...

Prescription opioid misuse and addiction among chronic pain patients are emerging public health concerns of considerable significance. Estimates suggest that more than 10% of chronic pain patients misuse opioid analgesics, and the number of fatalities related to nonmedical or inappropriate use of prescription opioids is climbing. Because the prevalence and adverse consequences of this threat ar...

OBJECTIVE To compare the investigator assessment of patient risk for prescription opioid misuse, abuse, and diversion with patient self-reports of these activities in a population with chronic pain. METHODS As a secondary objective of an open-label, multicenter, primary care-based clinical study to evaluate the success of converting opioid-experienced patients with chronic pain to morphine su...

OBJECTIVE The crisis of prescription opioid (PO) related harms has focused attention toward identifying and treating high-risk populations. This review aims to synthesize systematic reviews on the epidemiology and clinical management of comorbid chronic pain and PO or other substance misuse. METHODS A systematic database search was conducted to identify systematic reviews published between 20...

BACKGROUND Increased prescription drug misuse has been reported in veterans, yet there has not been a focused look at stimulant misuse in the military community or correlation with deployment injuries and illnesses. Our objective was to identify rates of stimulant misuse and any correlation with deployment in the military population. METHODS A prospective, anonymous institutional review board...

Prescribing of medicines is one of the most important clinical task that is complex and consists of a mixture of sub-competences such as principles of clinical pharmacology, knowledge, skill, critical judgement among many others. Prescription errors, potentially serious and non-serious, have been reported in the United Kingdom hospitals among both junior and senior doctors. The aim of this stud...

OBJECTIVE To provide absolute and relative risk estimates of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) based on duration and timing of prescription opioid use during pregnancy in the presence or absence of additional NAS risk factors of history of opioid misuse or dependence, misuse of other substances, non-opioid psychotropic drug use, and smoking. DESIGN Observational cohort study. SETTING Medic...