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Soldiers with PTSD, other mental health issues, more likely to get high-risk opioids
Veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq with mental health issues, especially post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), were more likely to receive high-risk opioids for pain, and those with PTSD were more likely to suffer adverse clinical outcomes, according to a new study.
Veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq with mental health issues, especially post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), were more likely to receive high-risk opioids for pain, and those with PTSD were more likely to suffer adverse clinical outcomes, according to a new study.
The increased risk of adverse clinical outcomes included alcohol-, drug-, and opioid-related accidents, and overdose, as well as self-inflicted injuries.
The study was published in the March 7 issue of JAMA.
“Our results revealed that veterans with PTSD-prescribed opioids for pain used higher doses for longer periods and experienced substantially more adverse clinical outcomes than veterans with other or no mental health disorders,” the authors stated.
Researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study involving 141,029 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who received at least 1 non-cancer pain-related diagnosis within 1 year of entering the Department of Veteran Affairs healthcare system from October 1, 2005, through December 31, 2010.
Approximately 15,675 veterans were prescribed opioids within a year of their initial pain diagnosis. Of those who were prescribed pain medications, veterans with PTSD were more likely than those without mental-health disorders to received higher-dose opioids (22.7% vs 15.9%). Veterans with PTSD were also more likely to receive 2 or more opioids concurrently, receive sedative hypnotics concurrently, or obtain early opioid refills.
Coalition promotes important acetaminophen dosing reminders
November 18th 2014It may come as a surprise that each year Americans catch approximately 1 billion colds, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as many as 20% get the flu. This cold and flu season, 7 in 10 patients will reach for an over-the-counter (OTC) medicine to treat their coughs, stuffy noses, and sniffles. It’s an important time of the year to remind patients to double check their medicine labels so they don’t double up on medicines containing acetaminophen.
Support consumer access to specialty medications through value-based insurance design
June 30th 2014The driving force behind consumer cost-sharing provisions for specialty medications is the acquisition cost and not clinical value. This appears to be true for almost all public and private health plans, says a new report from researchers at the University of Michigan Center for Value-Based Insurance Design (V-BID Center) and the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC).
Management of antipsychotic medication polypharmacy
June 13th 2013Within our healthcare-driven society, the increase in the identification and diagnosis of mental illnesses has led to a proportional increase in the prescribing of psychotropic medications. The prevalence of mental illnesses and subsequent treatment approaches may employ monotherapy as first-line treatment, but in many cases the use of combination of therapy can occur, leading to polypharmacy.1 Polypharmacy can be defined in several ways but it generally recognized as the use of multiple medications by one patient and the most common definition is the concurrent use of five more medications. The presence of polyharmacy has the potential to contribute to non-compliance, drug-drug interactions, medication errors, adverse events, or poor quality of life.
Medical innovation improves outcomes
June 12th 2013I have been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer of the pancreas, a disease that’s long been considered not just incurable, but almost impossible to treat-a recalcitrant disease that some practitioners feel has given oncology a bad name. I was told my life would be measured in weeks.
