Tag: Opioid Crisis

Recent research shows that patients who receive education and counseling about the importance of safe disposal of opioid medications are associated with a higher likelihood of the patient properly disposing of their unused medications. That peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of Pain Research also found “a clear need to increase patient awareness about the importance and methods of proper medication disposal, and a great opportunity for health care providers to increase patient education efforts.”  

Continue reading “Patient Education on Opioids Helps Reduce Opioid Use & Encourage Safe Disposal”

Last fall, Congress passed the “Access to Increased Drug Disposal (AIDD) Act as part of a larger package of bills aimed at controlling the national opioid epidemic. AIDD allows states to compete for $10 million in federal grants designed to increase participation in safe medication disposal programs. Five states will be chosen to receive grant money to implement drug take back demonstration projects that encourage “authorized collectors,” such as hospitals and retail pharmacies, to increase public access to drug collection boxes.

In 2017, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expressed concern that physicians were contributing to the opioid epidemic by over-prescribing the drugs. Recent evidence shows that doctors paid attention. In July, Blue Cross Blue Shield reported 2017 numbers showing fewer opioid prescriptions and an increase in new prescriptions meeting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s chronic pain prescription guidelines.
Continue reading “New Laws and Prescription Guidelines Target Opioid Abuse Crisis”