Prescription opioid abuse is at epidemic levels. Opioids diverted from friends and family members who have legitimate prescriptions are a major source of abused prescription opioids. Nurses are vital to any effort to combat this public health crisis because they have the opportunity to provide essential anticipatory guidance every time a patient receives prescription medication. The purpose of ...

BACKGROUND In Europe, scant information is available about prescription practices for pain medications. The aim of this research was to assess changes in prescription rates of non-opioid, weak opioid, and strong opioid medications between 2006 and 2013 in the Swiss population. METHODS Using insurance claims data covering one-sixth of the Swiss population, we analyzed the numbers of reimbursed...

OBJECTIVE To measure physicians' experiences with opioid-related adverse events and their perceived level of confidence in their opioid prescribing skills and practices. DESIGN Mailed survey. Setting The province of Ontario. PARTICIPANTS A total of 1000 primary care physicians randomly selected from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario registration database. MAIN OUTCOME MEAS...

The past decade has witnessed an alarming increase in the number of deaths due to prescription opioids that has paralleled the rise in the number of opioid prescriptions dispensed. Prescription drug monitoring programs, abuse-deterrent formulations and proper disposal of opioids have been promoted to help combat the opioid epidemic. We discuss changes that dentists, the third most frequent pres...

Opioids have been the mainstay for pain relief and palliation over a long period of time. They are commonly abused by drug addicts and such dependence usually imparts severe physiologic effects on multiple organ systems. The negative impact of opioids on the endocrine system is poorly understood and often underestimated. We describe a patient who developed severe suppression of the hypothalamic...

Opioids are a mainstay of treatment for pain worldwide. Pruritus, common side effect opioids, is patient dissatisfier that limits their use in many clinical settings. Both parenteral and neuraxial administration opioids frequently evoke pruritus. The ability to suppress while causing itch continues perplex clinicians researchers alike. Several mechanisms have been proposed explain how can give ...

Background: Seventy percent of the yearly 1.8 million emergency contacts to Danish hospitals arrives from patients in pain. Pain management is an essential and challenging part medicine ineffective analgesia for attending department (ED) common can lead complications, extended hospital stays course illness. Opioid-tolerant are increasing challenge requiring different acute pain management, ie. ...

OBJECTIVES To examine the relationship between nonmedical use of prescription opioids and heroin initiation from childhood to young adulthood, and to test whether certain ages, racial/ethnic, and income groups were at higher risk for this transition. STUDY DESIGN Among a nationally representative sample of US adolescents assessed in the 2004-2011 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health cross-...

BACKGROUND The morbidity and mortality burden of the US opioid epidemic falls heavily on reproductive-age women. Information on the patterns of and sources for non-medical use of prescription opioids among reproductive age women, including pregnant women, will inform public health and prevention efforts to mitigate the effects of the opioid epidemic. This study characterized non-medical use of ...

OBJECTIVE To provide family physicians with a practical clinical summary of opioid prescribing for specific populations based on recommendations from the Canadian Guideline for Safe and Effective Use of Opioids for Chronic Non-Cancer Pain. QUALITY OF EVIDENCE Researchers for the guideline conducted a systematic review of the literature, focusing on reviews of the effectiveness and safety of o...