Opioids linked with deaths other than overdoses, study says

The findings by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health sheds light on how prescription painkillers circulate in the U.S., as overdose deaths from opioids are skyrocketing.

The final bill must include a clause that restricts federal grants to states that require doctors to use their state-run prescription database to check a patient’s prescription history, and share prescribing information with prescribers in other states. Studies show that a 1 percent reduction in prescriptions correlates to an approximate 1.2 percent reduction in fatal overdoses. For example, using an opioid like Vicodin along with a sedative like Xanax quadruples the risk of overdose.

To further investigate the extent to which prescribed opioids fall into the hands of those without a prescription, the researchers constructed a national sample of 1,032 adults in the US who had used prescription painkillers in the previous year.

And almost half who had recently been prescribed opioids said they didn’t remember being told about safe opioid storage to keep them out of someone else’s hands. In 45 percent of times, the information was provided by a pharmacist or a drug packaging. All were asked about their own opioid use, their opioid storage habits, and whether they gave their medication to others.

Amid the epidemic of drug overdose deaths, 60% of which are related to prescription opioid abuse or misuse, physicians are trying to steer patients toward other forms of pain therapy after years of liberally prescribing drugs. She is a professor of health policy at Johns Hopkins University and co-director of the university’s Center for Mental Health and Addiction Policy Research.

Six in 10 people said they received extra painkillers or they expected they would have leftovers when the treatment ends. “It’s critical that we understand hospital prescribing patterns so that we can make sure we are prescribing these medications safely and effectively without fueling this deadly crisis”, said Dr Jena in a Harvard news release.

The Oregon Opioid Prescribing Guidelines Task Force approved adoption of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain at its June 3 meeting in Portland.

There’s more on the potential consequences of opioid painkiller use at the U.S.

In a related research letter, Alene Kennedy-Hendricks, Ph.D., of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, and coauthors surveyed US adults with recent opioid medication use to examine sharing, storing and disposal of the medication.

The results were published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Lead author of the study, Wayne Ray, cautioned about abuse of drugs like heroin and overuse of prescription opioids such as hydrocodone, codeine, and morphine. They also prevent doctors from prescribing a drug that could be lethal in combination with another drug the patient is taking.

“It’s not clear why so many of our survey respondents reported having leftover medication”, says Kennedy-Hendricks, “but it could be that they were prescribed more medication than they needed”. Approximately 20 percent of patients said they kept their medicine in a “latched” location.

The researchers conclude that the widespread problem will need to be solved with a new approach, in which doctors curb overprescription while educating patients on how to dispose of leftover pills properly and store them safely away from others to use.

Other research has suggested that the drugs aren’t effective at reducing back pain and some of the other common conditions for which they’re often prescribed. And it’s already saving lives here – there was a 7 percent decline in the number of opioid prescriptions between 2012 and 2014.

In all, the opioid group was found to face a 64 percent increased risk of death due to any reason, the team found.