Journal of pain & palliative care pharmacotherapy
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Sep 2010
ReviewResearch in end-of-life settings: an ethical inquiry.
A fundamental tension surrounds the ethics of conducting research in vulnerable populations, and specifically, research involving patients at or near the end-of-life. In Palliative Medicine, these patients' care has historically been based on compassion, clinical judgment and experience, and anecdote rather than on data generated through high-quality clinical trials. A robust evidence base to support clinical practice in the end-of-life setting is lacking. ⋯ Arguments can be categorized into claims that the goals of research conflict with the goals of care; research unduly burdens vulnerable patients and families/caregivers; genuine equipoise does not exist; and research in the palliative care setting is too difficult. The authors explore and respond to these objections, noting the vital importance of research at this stage of the illness trajectory. The authors conclude that barriers to palliative care research are surmountable, and, indeed, that the "research imperative" and principles laid out in the Belmont Report of 1979 require us to rigorously study clinical interventions used for palliative care patients-so as to provide optimal safety and outcomes for present and future patients.
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Sep 2010
Case ReportsGabapentin withdrawal syndrome in a post-liver transplant patient.
A 41-year-old male with a previous orthotopic liver transplant began experiencing insomnia, anxiety, diaphoresis, headaches, and palpitations that progressed over a 2-day period. As part of his home medication regimen, the patient was taking gabapentin for peripheral neuropathy. His acute onset of increasing symptoms coincided with an inadvertent discontinuation of gabapentin. After reinitiation of gabapentin therapy, the symptoms slowly improved over the next 24 hours and the episode of gabapentin withdrawal syndrome resolved.
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Sep 2010
Emergency department visits involving nonmedical use of selected prescription drugs in the United States, 2004-2008.
This report, adapted from the lead article in the June 10, 2010, issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports, describes the alarming increase in overdose deaths involving prescription drugs. Oxycodone, hydrocodone, and methadone were the drugs most highly implicated. Data were derived from the federal Drug Abuse Warning Network (Dawn). Other drugs commonly used in managing pain patients, including benzodiazepines and muscle relaxants, also were implicated.
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The literature on the impact of opioid pharmacotherapy on driving ability and safety is reviewed. Recommendations for safe driving while taking opioids and limitations of the data are discussed.