23536
Bluelight Crew
Methadone appears to be involved in a large proportion of opioid-related deaths in the U.S., researchers found.
A third of the deaths related to this painkiller class implicated methadone, although the addiction-recovery drug represents less than 5% of opioid prescriptions, according to Lynn Webster, MD, of Lifetree Pain Clinic in Salt Lake City, and colleagues.
They reported the findings in a special issue of Pain Medicine devoted to assessing the causes of recent increases in opioid-related deaths -- the prevention of which "should be a central focus for everyone working in the field of pain medicine," Webster said in a statement.
The researchers conducted a review of the literature and state and federal government sources to assess the frequency of and risk factors for opioid-related overdose deaths over the past decade.
National data have shown tremendous increases in opioid-related overdose deaths beginning in the early 2000s, the researchers found, consistent with recent calls by the Obama administration to curb the prescription painkiller epidemic.
Their study, however, found a high proportion of methadone-related deaths when controlling for the number of prescriptions dispensed, which hasn't been noted in prior analyses.
They also saw significantly more calls to poison centers for methadone than for other painkillers -- there were 10 times more calls for methadone than for oxycodone (OxyContin) and four times as many as there were for hydrocodone (Vicodin).
In terms of emergency department admissions, methadone was involved in 30% of all overdoses, but, again, after controlling for the number of prescriptions, there were 23 times as many visits for methadone as for hydrocodone and six times more visits than for oxycodone, Webster and colleagues wrote.
They noted that the methadone-related deaths have more to do with prescriptions for pain management than with opioid treatment programs.
full: http://www.medpagetoday.com/Psychiatry/Addictions/27032
A third of the deaths related to this painkiller class implicated methadone, although the addiction-recovery drug represents less than 5% of opioid prescriptions, according to Lynn Webster, MD, of Lifetree Pain Clinic in Salt Lake City, and colleagues.
They reported the findings in a special issue of Pain Medicine devoted to assessing the causes of recent increases in opioid-related deaths -- the prevention of which "should be a central focus for everyone working in the field of pain medicine," Webster said in a statement.
The researchers conducted a review of the literature and state and federal government sources to assess the frequency of and risk factors for opioid-related overdose deaths over the past decade.
National data have shown tremendous increases in opioid-related overdose deaths beginning in the early 2000s, the researchers found, consistent with recent calls by the Obama administration to curb the prescription painkiller epidemic.
Their study, however, found a high proportion of methadone-related deaths when controlling for the number of prescriptions dispensed, which hasn't been noted in prior analyses.
They also saw significantly more calls to poison centers for methadone than for other painkillers -- there were 10 times more calls for methadone than for oxycodone (OxyContin) and four times as many as there were for hydrocodone (Vicodin).
In terms of emergency department admissions, methadone was involved in 30% of all overdoses, but, again, after controlling for the number of prescriptions, there were 23 times as many visits for methadone as for hydrocodone and six times more visits than for oxycodone, Webster and colleagues wrote.
They noted that the methadone-related deaths have more to do with prescriptions for pain management than with opioid treatment programs.
full: http://www.medpagetoday.com/Psychiatry/Addictions/27032
