Journal of medical toxicology : official journal of the American College of Medical Toxicology
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Opioid analgesic misuse has risen significantly over the past two decades, and these drugs now represent the most commonly abused class of prescription medications. They are a major cause of poisoning deaths in the USA exceeding heroin and cocaine. Laboratory testing plays a role in the detection of opioid misuse and the evaluation of patients with opioid intoxication. ⋯ The sensitivity of testing methods also varies considerably across the spectrum of opioid drugs. An understanding of opioid metabolism and method sensitivity towards different opioid drugs is therefore essential to effective use of these tests. Improved testing algorithms and more research into the effective use of drug testing in the clinical setting, particularly in pain medicine and substance abuse, are needed.
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The increased use of opioid pain medication has been mirrored by the increased misuse and abuse of these drugs. As part of a multidisciplinary approach to this epidemic, pharmaceutical companies, with the encouragement of the Food and Drug Administration, have increased the development of abuse-deterrent formulations. While all have the goal of treating pain while mitigating misuse and abuse, there are different technologies utilized to impart the abuse-deterrent properties. The goal of this paper is to review the basis of abuse-deterrent formulations, the different types and approaches of some of the abuse-deterrent products, and their current regulatory status in the USA.
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The use of opioids for chronic noncancer pain has increased dramatically over the past 25 years in North America and has been accompanied by a major increase in opioid addiction and overdose deaths. The increase in opioid prescribing is multifactorial and partly reflects concerns about the effectiveness and safety of alternative medications, particularly the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. However, much of the rise in opioid prescribing reflects the assertion, widely communicated to physicians in the 1990s, that the risks of dependence and addiction during chronic opioid therapy were low, predictable, and could be minimized by the use of controlled-release opioid formulations. ⋯ We conclude that very few well-designed studies support the notion that opioid addiction is rare during chronic opioid therapy and that none can be readily generalized to present-day practice. Despite serious methodological limitations, these studies have been repeatedly mischaracterized as showing that the risk of addiction during chronic opioid therapy is rare. These studies are countered by a larger, more rigorous and contemporary body of evidence demonstrating that dependence and addiction are relatively common consequences of chronic opioid therapy, occurring in up to one-third of patients in some series.