Drug and alcohol dependence
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Aug 2016
Impact of prescription drug monitoring programs and pill mill laws on high-risk opioid prescribers: A comparative interrupted time series analysis.
Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) and pill mill laws were implemented to reduce opioid-related injuries/deaths. We evaluated their effects on high-risk prescribers in Florida. ⋯ High-risk prescribers are disproportionately responsive to state policies. However, opioids-prescribing remains highly concentrated among high-risk providers.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Aug 2016
Training law enforcement to respond to opioid overdose with naloxone: Impact on knowledge, attitudes, and interactions with community members.
Training law enforcement officers (LEOs) to administer naloxone to opioid overdose victims is increasingly part of comprehensive efforts to reduce opioid overdose deaths. Such efforts could yield positive interactions between LEOs and community members and might ultimately help lower overdose death rates. ⋯ Training LEOs in naloxone administration can increase knowledge and confidence in managing opioid overdose emergencies. Perhaps most importantly, training LEOs to respond to opioid overdose emergencies may have positive effects for LEOs and overdose victims.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Aug 2016
Decreased diversion by doctor-shopping for a reformulated extended release oxycodone product (OxyContin).
Doctor-shopping (obtaining prescriptions from multiple prescribers/pharmacies) for opioid analgesics produces a supply for diversion and abuse, and represents a major public health issue. ⋯ The rate of doctor-shopping for brand ER oxycodone decreased substantially after its reformulation, which did not occur for other prescription opioids. The largest reductions in doctor-shopping occurred with characteristics associated with higher abuse risk such as youth, cash payment and high dose, and with more specific thresholds of doctor-shopping. A higher prescriber and/or pharmacy threshold also increased the magnitude of the decrease, suggesting that it better captured the effect of the reformulation on actual doctor-shoppers.