The link between reducing pain medication, overdose and mental health crisis
In response to the concerning numbers of opioid-related deaths in the US, there has been a recent focus on opioid prescribing trends, which has shown an increase in opioid tapering among patients prescribed long-term opioid therapy. However, there has also been an increase in opioid-related mortality.
This article examines the relationship between opioid dose tapering among patients prescribed stable, long-term, higher-dose opioids and rates of overdose and mental health crisis.
On examination of 114,000 patients who had been prescribed "stable, high doses of opioids", the researchers...