PDMP & Opioid Abuse News
PDMP & Opioid Abuse News
- Martin Schram: Drug chains, opioids — and broken news 29 Nov 2021 05:14 Times Leader - Pennsylvania Back in the days (not so long ago!) when dead trees, properly pulverized, were print journalism’s most reliable source for spreading the news, we all understood two things about America’s greatest newspapers, The New York Times and The Washington Post: 1. …
- Attorney General hosts 10th Annual Drug Abuse Prevention Summit 25 Nov 2021 16:00 The Evening Times - Arkansas Posted on November 25, 2021 LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge is proud to announce the huge success of the tenth Annual Arkansas Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Summit where 700 people attended. This event was held in Northwest …
- Tracy physician found guilty in federal court of illegally prescribing opioids 25 Nov 2021 02:24 Tracy Press - California Edmund Kemprud, a doctor who practiced in Tracy and Dublin, was convicted in federal court on 14 counts of illegally prescribing opioids and other controlled substances to patients. A news release from the California Attorney General’s office on Nov. 19 …
- Cocaine and opioids seized as police charge Amherstburg man with drug trafficking 24 Nov 2021 21:25 CTV News Windsor, Ont. - A 42-year-old Amherstburg man is facing drug trafficking charges after police seized cocaine, fentanyl and other drugs. The Windsor Police Service Drugs and Guns Enforcement Unit (DIGS) launched an investigation into the suspected …
- STUDY: Cannabis reduces chronic pain patients use of opioids 24 Nov 2021 17:49 WFIR - Virginia
- FLASHBACK: High unemployment, cause of drug abuse in Ghana 24 Nov 2021 15:05 Ghana MMA Conversations around unemployment rates in the country are still a major talking point but in 2019, a psychologist, Crescensia Baarkoh, explained this adds up to the causes of drug abuses in the country. She explained that the feeling of being unemployed …
- 5 things to know for November 24: Charlottesville, Capitol riot, Wisconsin, opioids, coronavirus 24 Nov 2021 12:13 WISC-TV Channel 3000 - Wisconsin November 24, 2021 5:26 AM By Andrew Torgan, CNN Posted: November 24, 2021 5:26 AM Updated: November 24, 2021 6:11 AM Blustery and dry Santa Ana winds are whipping up a wildfire risk in Southern California, threatening a potential power shutoff over the …
- 5 things to know for November 24: Charlottesville, Capitol riot, Wisconsin, opioids, coronavirus 24 Nov 2021 07:24 WISC-TV Channel 3000 - Wisconsin November 24, 2021 5:26 AM By Andrew Torgan, CNN Posted: November 24, 2021 5:26 AM Updated: November 24, 2021 5:41 AM Blustery and dry Santa Ana winds are whipping up a wildfire risk in Southern California, threatening a potential power shutoff over the …
- More dangerous opioids caused 30 overdoses last week in Red Deer: OPS manager 23 Nov 2021 23:29 Red Deer Advocate More deadly opioid street drugs caused 30 overdoses in Red Deer last week, says a manager at the Overdose Prevention Site. “It’s important to let people know there are stronger opioids in town and they have contaminated the drug supply,” said Sarah Fleck, …
- Short-Acting Opioids Needed for Withdrawal in Hospitals: Experts 23 Nov 2021 23:03 Medscape Short-acting opioids may complement methadone and buprenorphine for opioid withdrawal symptoms in U.S. hospitals, say authors of an opinion piece calling for rethinking current strategies for opioid withdrawal in this country. The commentary by Robert A. …
Follow Prescription Advisory
The AAOS recommends the following tools, which have been shown to significantly reduce medication errors:
- computerized physician order entry
- computerized decision support systems
- computerized monitoring of adverse drug events
- pharmacist-assisted rounds
- high-risk drug protocols
Overdose deaths are “just the tip of the iceberg”: that for every death there are many more hospital treatment admissions, emergency room visits, people who abuse or are dependent on prescription drugs and nonmedical users.
PDMPs have many limitations in their current format, including complex access issues, timeliness, and whether the data are presented to the physician automatically or require physician effort to retrieve.
Prescribing or dispensing to an abuser, diverter, misuser or ‘doctor shopper’ puts the provider, their practice and or institution, as well as the patients at high risk.
Although relieving pain and reducing suffering are primary emergency physician responsibilities, there is a concurrent duty to limit the personal and societal harm that can result from prescription drug misuse and abuse.
Recommendations for full use of PDMP include:
- PDMPs can be effective clinical tools in medication management involving controlled substances.
- PDMPs should be available for clinicians across state boundaries.
- Every prescribing clinician should be familiar with the process of accessing and utilizing information from PDMP’s so that they can incorporate this information in their practices.
You’re not only reducing the supply [of pain medications] for those who use them inappropriately, but also for those in need.
The CDC advises providers to use PDMPs… States should consider ways to increase their use … available real-time, and alerts to prescribers.
Attention to patterns of prescription requests and the prescribing of opioids as part of an ongoing relationship between a patient and a healthcare provider can decrease the risk of diversion. Periodic review of state PDMP, where available, is also a useful tool to monitor compliance. Evaluation should initially include…a drug history… Documentation is essential.
When a clinician is prescribing a controlled substance, readily available information about the drugs that a patient is receiving from other providers can be a critically important component of the decision-making process…Increasingly, these [PDMP] programs have evolved into a useful tool for the clinician who must incorporate careful risk management into the prescribing of opioid analgesics or any other controlled substance.
Increasingly, these programs have evolved into a useful tool for the clinician who must incorporate careful risk management into the prescribing of opioid analgesics or any other controlled substance Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs Serve a Vital Clinical Need.
Effective monitoring systems [PDMPs] will augment clinical judgment, provide evidence of misuse, and facilitate prescription of the most appropriate analgesic for the situation…The Emergency Department is regarded as the nation’s safety net…the last bastion of around-the-clock access to care … Unfortunately, some of the solutions to opioid misuse [limiting ED physicians to 3-day opioid prescriptions] preempts judgments from trained emergency medical providers.
Use of a state PDMP may help identify patients who are at high risk for diversion or doctor shopping… To quantify the effects of PDMPs, studies were conducted of ED providers who cared for adult patients with pain. Of the patients with complete data in one study, information from the state’s PDMP System altered prescribing practice in 41%.
Use of a state PDMP may help identify patients who are at high risk for diversion or doctor shopping… To quantify the effects of PDMPs, studies were conducted of ED providers who cared for adult patients with pain. Of the patients with complete data in one study, information from the state’s PDMP System altered prescribing practice in 41%.
The AAOS recommends the following tools, which have been shown to significantly reduce medication errors:
- computerized physician order entry
- computerized decision support systems
- computerized monitoring of adverse drug events
- pharmacist-assisted rounds
- high-risk drug protocols
Overdose deaths are “just the tip of the iceberg”: that for every death there are many more hospital treatment admissions, emergency room visits, people who abuse or are dependent on prescription drugs and nonmedical users.
A study was conducted to estimate the societal costs of prescription opioid abuse, dependence, and misuse in the United States. Costs were grouped into three categories: health care, workplace, and criminal justice.
The results: Total US societal costs of prescription opioid abuse were estimated at $55.7 billion in 2007 (USD in 2009). Workplace costs accounted for $25.6 billion, health care costs accounted for $25.0 billion, and criminal justice costs accounted for $5.1 billion. Workplace costs were driven by lost earnings from premature death ($11.2 billion) and reduced compensation/lost employment ($7.9 billion).
Conclusions: The costs of prescription opioid abuse represent a substantial and growing economic burden for the society. The increasing prevalence of abuse suggests an even greater societal burden in the future.
Whenever possible, orthopaedic surgeons should request and review old medical records and speak with the patient’s primary physician about past medication problems. Currently, states have Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs designed to assist law enforcement in the identification of doctor shoppers; these data are also accessible to physicians.
Thirteen multi-state PDMP projects were sponsored in 2012-13. While providers indicated that PDMPs gave them more confidence for prescribing pain medication, the study concluded that the easier the data is to obtain, the more they will be used, and the safer the practice can be.
The CDC advises providers to use PDMPs… States should consider ways to increase their use … available real-time, and alerts to prescribers.
The abuse of opioid pain medication has a devastating impact on public health and safety in this country, killing 46 people every day… Prescription Drug poisoning deaths – now over 30,000/yr – outnumber deaths from motor vehicle crashes.
Attention to patterns of prescription requests and the prescribing of opioids as part of an ongoing relationship between a patient and a healthcare provider can decrease the risk of diversion. Periodic review of state PDMP, where available, is also a useful tool to monitor compliance. Evaluation should initially include…a drug history… Documentation is essential.
In 2012, both New York and Tennessee required prescribers to check their state’s PDMP before prescribing painkillers.
The results one year later:
New York realized a 75% drop and Tennessee a 36% drop in patients who were seeing multiple prescribers to obtain the same drugs.
The use of PDMPs…is helping to reduce misuse of prescription drugs.