CME and the Opioid Crisis

Dramatic increases in death due to prescription opioid abuse has gained national attention. In the last month alone, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued new guidelines on prescribing opioids, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued restrictive labeling guidelines on immediate release opioids, and Congress has held almost weekly hearings on the issue of opioid abuse. All major party candidates for President have stated that reducing opioid abuse is a top priority of theirs. Congress is in the midst of passing several large bills designed to restrict access to prescription opioids and help those who struggle with addiction. According to the CDC, the rate of overdose deaths involving opioids increased by 200% from 2000 to 2014. Additionally, in 2014, sixty-one percent of drug overdose deaths involved some form of opioid; and, on average, seventy-eight Americans die daily from overdoses of heroin or painkillers. One of the tools in the FDA's toolbox is to assign a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for a group of products. In 2011, the FDA required manufacturers to pay for accredited continuing medical education (CME) courses for the extended release-long acting (ER-LA) opioids. Over the past four years, CME providers across the country have been quietly educating US based healthcare providers on the proper and safe use of extended release-long acting (ER-LA) opioids as outlined in the FDA blue print. This has been a monume...
Source: Policy and Medicine - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs