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Spring 2016 • Kentucky
Kentucky is second among
all states in our country for
resident age-adjusted drug
overdose death due to opioids.
The Food and Drug Administration
(FDA), in February 2016, published, A
Proactive Response to Prescription Opioid
Abuse (Califf et al. 2016). FDA policy is
being revised immediately to respond to
prescription opioid abuse by examining and
promulgating regulations and guidelines for
the following issues:
1. Balancing individual need and
societal risk,
2. Meeting the need for timely action,
3. Reviewing labeling and post-marketing
surveillance requirements,
4. Prioritizing abuse-deterrent formulations and overdose treatments,
5. Addressing the lack of non-opioid alternatives for pain management,
6. Creating clear guidelines for opioid use,
7. Managing pain in children, and
8. Developing a better evidence base.
It is hoped that Kentucky physicians will
meet the challenge of modifying opioid prescription practices in Kentucky and increase
their level of awareness by reviewing guidelines for opioid use and incorporating them
into practice for the chronic pain patient.
Moreover, medical schools, residencies and
fellowship programs, should incorporate clear
evidence-based curricula to teach the biological ramifications of acute versus chronic pain.
All medical students, residents and fellows
should be provided with up-to-date and
evidence-based curricula to inform them of
the contemporary management of chronic
pain utilizing non-opioid treatments whenever possible.
About the Author
Robert P. Granacher, Jr., MD, MBA practices
clinical and forensic neuropsychiaty in Lexington
and Mt. Vernon, KY. He is a noted scientific
author and past president of the Kentucky
Psychiatric Medical Association. He is currently
president-elect of the Lexington Medical Society
and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the
University of Kentucky College of Medicine.
References
Califf, R.M., Woodcock, J., Ostroff, S. (2016). A
proactive response to prescription opioid abuse.
N.Eng. J. Med. Epub ahead of print February 4,
2016. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMsr1601307
C.D.C. (2016). CDC guideline for prescribing
opioids for chronic pain: United States, 2016.
MMWR 65; 1-37.
Larochelle, M.R., Liebschutz, J.M., Zhang, F.,
et al, (2016). Opioid prescribing after nonfatal
overdose and association with repeated overdose:
a cohort study. Ann. Int. Med. 264: 1-9.
Slavova, S., Bunn, T.L., Gao, W. (2015). Drug
overdose deaths in Kentucky, 2013. Lexington,
KY: Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research
Center.
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