Opioids in the household: “Sharing” pain pills is too common

This study alone identified almost six million people, and even this underestimates the problems because the study excluded patients with a cancer diagnosis or who were in hospice. Off the top of my head, I can think of multiple cases where I suspected or was told outright that others were using a hospice patient’s pain pills. I asked the study author, Marissa J. Seamans, PhD, about why they excluded these patients. “Because opioids are indicated for patients diagnosed with malignancy or in hospice care, we excluded them to more easily identify comparable NSAID patients,” she explained. While this made the comparison more reliable, it also left out a large source of “borrowed” pain medication. Maureen Dryja, RN, is one of the nurses in my practice. She has had extensive experience in home hospice agencies. “Yes, diversion of pain medication is a significant issue in home hospice care. On admission to hospice it is very openly stated that having narcotics in the house is a really big deal.” The home hospice community has developed and implemented strategies around storage, monitoring, and disposal of opioid prescriptions. Despite this, Dryja described several situations where supplies of unused opioids disappeared. Dr. Seamans points out that regardless of why a person is prescribed opioids, “patients need to be counseled on safe storage of opioids and how unused opioids should be disposed.” She outlines some possible methods: “Safe storage suggestions incl...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Addiction Drugs and Supplements Health Pain Management Source Type: blogs