Analgesics

App helps patients cut opioid use after knee replacement

Patients who underwent knee replacement who used an app to monitor their analgesic use had better pain control and took fewer opioids post surgery, study results show.…

Clinical guidelines and evidence base for acute pain management

The variety of over-the-counter treatment options and guidelines means there can be misconceptions around the best options for patients. This article, part of the acute pain learning series, has been developed to highlight when and why pharmacists should review guidelines and the evidence base to su…

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Cannabis cuts opioid use in 90% of cases, study finds

Almost nine out of ten adults who bought cannabis for pain relief, and who had also used opioids in the previous six months, had either reduced or stopped opioid use as a consequence, results of a study published in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs show.…

Alzheimer’s drug reduces illicit opioid use in methadone recipients

People who take methadone use fewer illicit opioids when galantamine is added to their therapy, research shows.…

Opioids in England: crisis averted?

Despite a 20% increase in opioid prescriptions per 1,000 population over the past decade, there are signs that a US-style opioid epidemic may have been averted.…

A call for action on high-dose opioid prescribing

Despite a decrease in the number of prescriptions, there are thousands of patients still on high-dose opioids. Pharmacy’s mission must be to review whether this is appropriate.…

Is a complete ban on OTC opioids the solution?

Misuse of over-the-counter opioids often slips under the radar. Some experts say the UK should follow other countries and ban them altogether, but others argue that there is more that pharmacists can do to help tackle this problem.…

We need a more rational approach to opioid prescribing

The rates of opioid misuse and related deaths may be lower in the UK than in the United States, but healthcare professionals should remain vigilant when caring for patients with chronic pain.…

A critical look at those responsible for the opioid epidemic in the United States

Dopesick: Dealers, doctors, and the drug company that addicted America by Beth Macy.…

Pharmacy staff should be aware of drug misusers’ methods of extracting opioids from OTC products

Misuse of codeine can cause serious harm. There are restrictions around use of the medicine, but people still find ways to misuse it and pharmacists should be aware of their methods. Here, we report a case of a patient extracting codeine from over-the-counter (OTC) products to highlight the role pha…