Statistics regarding the current opioid crisis in the U.S. continue to indicate cause for alarm in comparison to previous years. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, a subset of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), an estimated 115 people in the U.S. die every day from opioid-related overdoses as of March 2018. […]
Opioids have extensive histories as both prescribed and illicit drugs, and the fundamental challenge they present – as uniquely powerful analgesics that are nevertheless highly addictive – has long bedeviled the healthcare sector.
Physicians are working toward a consensus on appropriate opioid prescription practices while navigating structural challenges to consistent and safe prescribing.
The culture of prescription drugs is slowly evolving so that opioids are used in quantities and therapies reflecting their safety profiles.
Years in the making, the opioid epidemic now accounts for a majority of all drug overdoses in the country.
The opioid crisis continues to loom in healthcare, as more individuals become addicted to and die from lawful and illegal forms of opioids. While controlled substances such as heroin are to blame for much of the problem, prescription medications are also a contributor. Variation in how physicians treat chronic pain and non-nerve-related back pain and […]
In the U.S., prescriptions for and sales of opioid painkillers have nearly quadrupled since 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers from the University of Michigan Medical School and the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Ann Arbor Healthcare System published a new study in the online journal Medical Care exposing a major […]
Data from drug utilization reviews reveal the benefits of reviewing opioid prescriptions in workers’ comp cases. Here is a summary of our findings from a white paper by AMR’s Hamed Hafizi, MPH.
The release of the Pro Publica/ NPR report on workers’ compensation has spurred much debate about the state of workers’ compensation in the United States. One of the ongoing debates involved is how to effectively monitor and approve the prescription of opioids for pain management. With New York adopting mandatory e-prescriptions for controlled substances[1] and […]
An article published last month in the New York Times states that the sales of opioids (prescription painkillers such as OxyContin) have increased 110% in the last ten years; what was less than a $4 billion industry in 2001 is now nearing the $10 billion mark. This article is one of many that has been published recently […]