New Report Releases Strategies to Reduce Opioid Epidemic

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recently released a report, requested by the United States Food and Drug Administration, that highlights what can be done to stop the opioid use disorder and other opioid-related harms without closing access to opioids for patients who need them. The committee that conducted the study and wrote the report recommended actions the FDA, other federal agencies, state and local governments, and health-related organizations should take – which include promoting more cautious prescribing of opioids, expanding access to treatment for opioid use disorder, preventing more overdose deaths, weighing societal impacts in opioid-related regulatory decisions, and investing in research to better understand the nature of pain and develop non-addictive alternatives. In more recent years, national initiatives to reduce opioid prescribing have modestly decreased the number of prescription opioids dispensed. Unfortunately, many people who otherwise would have been using prescription opioids have transitioned to heroin use. According to the report, the declining price of heroin, together with regulatory efforts designed to reduce harms associated with the use of prescription opioids – including the availability of abuse-deterrent formulations – may be contributing to increased heroin use. One approach to addressing the opioid epidemic is to have a fundamental shift in the nation’s approach to prescribing practices and im...
Source: Policy and Medicine - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs