
5 Things About Chronic Pain and Pain Management in the Age of Opioids
Payers and providers are looking to keep vulnerable patients in pain from becoming addicted to painkillers, but those who live with pain on a daily basis are understandably upset at the thought of losing access to medications they say keep them functional. Here are 5 takeaways from recent coverage about this important issue.
On Monday, July 9, the FDA is hearing from
The number of Americans
Payers and providers are looking to keep vulnerable patients in pain from becoming addicted to painkillers, but those who live with pain on a daily basis are understandably upset at the thought of losing access to medications they say keep them functional.
Here are 5 takeaways from recent coverage about this important issue.
1. More doctors are speaking out about leaving patients at risk of untreated pain.
Opioids should not be totally eliminated to treat
Although the
2. Payers and others need more information about the issue; prescription drug monitoring programs may vary.
One surprising finding of a recent study about payers is that some impose prescribing restrictions on non-opioids. Using the example of low back pain, a study in JAMA Open suggests that
Another issue facing the entire healthcare system, including payers, pharmacy benefit managers, government officials, and others,
One tool set up to fight OUD actually had the opposite effect, according to one study, which found limited evidence that
3. For acute pain, the recommendation is to try non-opioids first.
In an effort to improve the safety of opioid use while in the hospital and upon discharge, recommendations from the Society of Hospital Medicine suggests clinicians
4. An old drug, ketamine, is making a comeback.
5. Could marijuana could have a role to play?
Earlier this year,
One study looked at prescribing patterns for opioids in Medicare Part D and the implementation of state medical marijuana laws. Medicare Part D prescriptions for opioids fell by 2.21 million daily doses filled per year (95% CI, −4.15 to −0.27) when laws went into effect in a given state. The type of law implemented proved key, with greater reductions in opioid prescriptions observed in states with more structured laws that increased access to medical cannabis.
The other looked at Medicaid prescription data from 2011 to 2016 and found that both medical and recreational marijuana laws were associated with annual reductions in opioid prescribing rates of 5.88% and 6.38%, respectively.
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