“Overdoses of opioid pain medications frequently occur in people who aren’t chronic users with high prescribed opioid doses–the groups targeted by current opioid prescribing guidelines, reports a study in the August issue of Medical Care.
“It may be prudent to revise guidelines to also address opioid poisonings occurring at relatively low prescribed doses and with acute and intermittent opioid use, in addition to chronic, high-dose use,” comments lead author Deborah Fulton-Kehoe, PhD, a research scientist in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle. Guidelines may also need to target prescription sedatives, which are involved in nearly half of opioid overdoses.
Read more at: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-07/wkh-moo071515.php
Source: Eurekalert.org – July 15, 2015