Opioid Tapering Practices-Time for Reconsideration?

Article Substance Abuse

I felt like I had a scarlet letter: Recurring experiences of structural stigma surrounding opioid tapers among patients with chronic, non-cancer pain

Allyn Benintendi et al.

Summary: Patients with chronic non-cancer pain undergoing opioid tapering experienced structural stigma, feeling overlooked in the opioid crisis, stigmatized by cultural norms, and further marginalized by institutional policies and programs. The tapering initiatives exacerbated social stigma and unintended consequences, highlighting the devalued status of chronic pain patients and undermining their confidence in medical systems.

DRUG AND ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE (2021)

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Article Clinical Neurology

Opioid Policy and Chronic Pain Treatment Access Experiences: A Multi-Stakeholder Qualitative Analysis and Conceptual Model

Stephanie Slat et al.

Summary: The study identified six main barriers to treatment access for patients with chronic pain, including clinic reluctance to manage prescribed opioids, lack of time and reimbursement for quality opioid-related care, scarcity of multimodal care and coordination between providers, fear of liability and use of new guidelines, delayed prescription receipt due to prior authorization and pharmacy issues, and poor availability of effective non-opioid treatments. These issues converge to disrupt treatment access for patients with chronic pain, highlighting the need for policy interventions to address these access barriers.

JOURNAL OF PAIN RESEARCH (2021)

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Article Medicine, General & Internal

Association of Dose Tapering With Overdose or Mental Health Crisis Among Patients Prescribed Long-term Opioids

Alicia Agnoli et al.

Summary: Among patients prescribed stable, long-term, higher-dose opioid therapy, tapering events were significantly associated with increased risk of overdose and mental health crisis. The study suggests that reducing opioid doses may lead to negative outcomes such as overdose and mental health crisis.

JAMA-JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (2021)

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Article Health Care Sciences & Services