This site is for sharing information relative to the goal to reduce unintended deaths due to prescription opiates in Washington State to 60% of 2008 levels by 2011.
Michael Schiesser MD - Site Moderator

1/10/10 Washington State Emergency Intranasal Naloxone Legislation due to be reintroduced
3/25/09 Washington State Emergency Intranasal Naloxone Legislation dies
3/6/09 Risk Stratification in the Management of Chronic Pain
3/5/09 Supreme Court votes 6 to 3 charging Pharma needs to proactively inform physicians of emerging knowledge relating to risk of medications beyond FDA labeling.
2/10/09--> FDA ANNOUNCES PLANS TO PLACE CONTROLS ON PRESCRIBERS OF CLASS II AGENTS (click for more info)
2/14/09--> The 2009 Clinical Guidelines for the Management of Chronic Non-Cancer Pain are here

How you can use this site:

1. Choose from topics on the left navigation bar, you can access files at the bottom of each page, (below page content, and below page message threads)
2. You can participate in topic discussions on each page, by creating a log in ID.
3. When you sign up and I can give you posting privileges so others can view your articles, etc.

The majority of prescription opiates originate as a prescription to a patient for pain (as opposed to being stolen from a pharmacy, forged, etc).
Source: WA State DOH-->
A recent study focusing on West Virginia suggested that the majority of the deaths were due to persons using prescription opiates such as Methadone, Oxycontin, Oxycodone, Vicoden, Hydrodocone, Percocet, Dilaudid and others, were not receiving their drugs from a physician.

In Washington State, there are 323,000 persons, approximately 5% of the population who use prescription opiates without a prescription, either to self manage chronic pain, to self manage opiate dependence, or for mood enhancing effects.

A National Survey on Drug Use & Health in 2006 found that prescription opiates were obtained by end users in the following manner: 56% get free from friend or family member ,19% from a doctor, 9% bought them from friend or family,4% from a drug dealer, 0.1% purchasing them from the Internet.
Because the majority of these categories suggests that the majority of persons using prescription opiates in an illicit manner are either directly receiving their prescription from a physician, or indirectly from someone who is getting a prescription from a physician, then it calls into question the current practice standard with respect to pain management.

When viewing the trajectory of the graphs pertaining to prescription opiate deaths, the logical conclusion is that prescribing patterns as they currently exist for pain management are unsustainable. This public health emergency is a direct manifestation of the unbridled risks and hazards inherent in these drugs, coupled with inadequate controls within the delivery system for unintended consequences. When this project is complete in 3 years, the landscape of pain management will necessarily experience a substantial shift; through physician and patient education, state and national legislation, civic and government initiatives, and more. The result will not necessarily lead in the under treatment of pain. Probably just the opposite. We will more ethically and broadly address pain in a multidisciplinary fashion, while more consciously monitoring for abuse, dependence, and diversion. Therefore, the future of pain management is not a pendulum swing to under treatment, rather it is a discovery to more Sustainable Treatment Options for Pain. "S.T.O.P".





<---Source: CDC