Opioid analgesics

Health board reviews NHS prescribing of 15 medicines

A Scottish health board has confirmed that it will stop providing co-proxamol for NHS patients under any circumstances from October 2018 and it is reviewing its prescribing of 14 other medicinal products.…

Chief pharmaceutical officer expresses ‘regret’ for painful community pharmacy cuts

Exclusive: NHS England’s chief pharmaceutical officer has expressed his regret for the difficulty cuts to the community pharmacy budget have caused the profession, but insisted they should be regarded as a “watershed” moment for pharmacy.…

Regulator to review Gosport findings following inappropriate opioid painkiller doses

The pharmacy regulator will consider whether any action will be taken following the report into Gosport War Memorial Hospital.…

MHRA will continue to monitor safety of opioid patches after baby’s death

The risks associated with fentanyl patches have been reiterated by the UK’s drugs safety watchdog after a baby died when a patch worn by her mother became attached to her skin.…

New prescribing approach could reduce intravenous opioid exposure

A new standard of inpatient opioid prescribing preferring oral and subcutaneous administration may be associated with significant reductions in intravenous opioid exposure, results from a US study show.…

No evidence pharmacists challenged use of high-dose opioids, concludes review of 450 deaths

Pharmacists have been criticised for not questioning prescribing at Gosport War Memorial Hospital after an independent review found that at least 456 patients died after being given inappropriate doses of opioid painkillers.…

Tighter regulations in United States drive opioid sales via ‘cryptomarkets’

The number of opioids sold through online illicit markets has doubled, coinciding with the restriction of one of the most frequently presctibed opioid analgesics in the United States, according to results from a study published in The British Medical Journal.…

Prescribing alerts could cut opioid and benzodiazepine coprescribing

An electronic medical record alert system could potentially reduce coprescribing and related overdose deaths, researchers have found.…

PHE guidance highlights role of community pharmacy in tackling opioid overdose

Community pharmacies could be used as an outlet to boost the supply of take-home naloxone, a drug used to block the effects of opioids for individuals who are most in need, according to guidance from Public Health England.…

Synthetic opioids overtake prescription opioids as leading cause of US overdose deaths

Synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, were implicated in more overdose-related deaths in 2016 than prescription opioids in the United States.…