Articles: opioid.
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Despite changing federal regulations for providing telehealth services and provision of controlled substances during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is little guidance available for office-based opioid treatment (OBOT) programs integrated into primary care settings. ⋯ OBOTs require organized workflows to continue to provide services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Telemedicine, in the face of relaxed federal regulations, has the opportunity to enhance addiction care, creating a more convenient as well as an equally effective mechanism for OBOTs to deliver care that should inform future policy.
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This study was conducted to determine if limited access to health care during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted utilization of recommended nonpharmacological treatments, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and opioids by patients with chronic low back pain and affected clinical outcomes relating to pain intensity and disability. ⋯ The pandemic threatens to exacerbate the impact of chronic low back pain, particularly among African American patients and the older population, by impeding access to guideline-informed noninvasive treatments.
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Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited disorder of hemoglobin structure. The clinical effects of the sickle gene are pleiotropic in nature causing multiple phenotypic expressions associated with the various complications of the disease. The hallmark of the disease is pain that could be acute, chronic, nociceptive, or neuropathic that could occur singly or in various combinations. ⋯ In addition, the major cause of death of patients with SCD is the complications of the disease itself and not the use of opioids. The use of opioids by patients with SCD has been stable over the years. Judicious use of opioids to treat sickle cell pain according to available guidelines could minimize the unnecessary suffering experienced by patients with SCD.
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Psychological medicine · Jan 2021
Are prescription misuse and illicit drug use etiologically distinct? A genetically-informed analysis of opioids and stimulants.
Drug classes are grouped based on their chemical and pharmacological properties, but prescription and illicit drugs differ in other important ways. Potential differences in genetic and environmental influences on the (mis)use of prescription and illicit drugs that are subsumed under the same class should be examined. Opioid and stimulant classes contain prescription and illicit forms differentially associated with salient risk factors (common route of administration, legality), making them useful comparators for addressing this etiological issue. ⋯ Prescription opioid misuse may share little genetic influence with illicit opioid use. Future research may consider avoiding unitary drug classifications, particularly when examining genetic influences.