Articles: opioid.
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Prescription opioid analgesics are commonly prescribed for moderate to severe pain. An unintended consequence of prescribing opioid analgesics is the abuse and diversion of these medications. Tapentadol ER is a recently approved centrally acting analgesic with synergistic mechanisms of action: μ-opioid receptor agonism and inhibition of norepinephrine reuptake. We assessed the amount of diversion and related cost of obtaining tapentadol IR (Nucynta®) and tapentadol ER (Nucynta ER®) as well as other Schedule II opioid medications in street transactions in the United States using the Researched Abuse, Diversion and Addiction-Related Surveillance (RADARS®) System. ⋯ Our results indicate that tapentadol ER is rarely sold illicitly in the United States. When sold illicitly, tapentadol ER costs less than other Schedule II opioid products.
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Eur. J. Clin. Pharmacol. · Aug 2016
Persistent analgesic use and the association with chronic pain and other risk factors in the population-a longitudinal study from the Tromsø Study and the Norwegian Prescription Database.
Analgesics are commonly used drugs. The long-term effectiveness is mostly unproven, while the risk of several serious adverse effects is well established. We aimed to estimate the prevalence and incidence of persistent analgesic use and the association with chronic pain and sociodemographic and comorbid risk factors. ⋯ This study showed a relatively low prevalence of persistent analgesic use and that the majority of persons reporting chronic pain do not use analgesics persistently.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Aug 2016
Decreased diversion by doctor-shopping for a reformulated extended release oxycodone product (OxyContin).
Doctor-shopping (obtaining prescriptions from multiple prescribers/pharmacies) for opioid analgesics produces a supply for diversion and abuse, and represents a major public health issue. ⋯ The rate of doctor-shopping for brand ER oxycodone decreased substantially after its reformulation, which did not occur for other prescription opioids. The largest reductions in doctor-shopping occurred with characteristics associated with higher abuse risk such as youth, cash payment and high dose, and with more specific thresholds of doctor-shopping. A higher prescriber and/or pharmacy threshold also increased the magnitude of the decrease, suggesting that it better captured the effect of the reformulation on actual doctor-shoppers.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Aug 2016
A Multifaceted Approach to Improve the Availability and Accessibility of Opioids for the Treatment of Cancer Pain in Serbia: Results from the International Pain Policy Fellowship (2006-2012) and Recommendations for Action.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Serbia, and at least 14,000-16,000 patients experience moderate-to-severe cancer pain every year. Cancer pain relief has been impeded by inadequate availability of opioid analgesics and barriers to their accessibility. In 2006, a Serbian oncologist was selected as an International Pain Policy Fellow. ⋯ Collaborative efforts resulted in availability of immediate-release oral morphine, registration of controlled-release hydromorphone, and reimbursement of oral methadone for cancer pain; numerous educational activities aimed at changing inadequate knowledge and negative attitudes toward opioids; recognition of opioids as essential medicines for palliative care in a new National Palliative Care Strategy; and recognition of the medical use of opioids as psychoactive-controlled substances for the relief of pain included in a new national law on psychoactive-controlled substances, and the development of recommendations for updating regulations on prescribing and dispensing opioids. An increase in opioid consumption at the institutional and national levels also was observed. This article outlines a multifaceted approach to improving access to strong opioids for cancer pain management and palliative care in a middle-income country and offers a potential road map to success.
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Journal of anesthesia · Aug 2016
Effect of interleukin 6 -174G>C gene polymorphism on opioid requirements after total hip replacement.
In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the contribution of genetic factors to variability in patient pain threshold and the efficacy of pain management. One of the genes implicated in pain pathology and treatment response is interleukin 6 (IL6). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between IL6 (rs1800795: -174G>C) and opioid requirements in patients after total hip replacement (THR). ⋯ The presence of the G allele IL6 gene (-174G>C) polymorphism was found to be an independent factor predisposing to a higher dose and more frequent administration of opioids in the first days after total hip replacement.