Opioid Prescriptions More Prevalent in White Communities
Disparities in access to controlled medications, including opioids, along racial/ethnic and income lines were found to parallel the rate of opioid-related overdoses in California.
Benzodiazepines
Benzodiazepines: Primary Care’s New Drug Problem
Curtailing prescription opioid use has led to an increase in prescribing benzodiazepines to manage pain.
Tobacco Users More Likely to Be Co-Prescribed Opioids With Benzodiazepines, Muscle Relaxants
Patients with non-cancer back or neck pain who use vs do not use tobacco may be more likely to be concurrently prescribed opioid analgesics with muscle relaxants and/or benzodiazepines.
Prevalence of Benzodiazepine Use, Misuse Among US Adults Analyzed
Alprazolam was found to be the most commonly misused benzodiazepine.
Physical, Sexual Abuse and Concurrent Opioid/Benzodiazepine Use in Chronic Pain
Patients with chronic pain and a history of physical and sexual abuse were found to be more likely to concurrently use benzodiazepine and opioids.
Overdose Risk Highest in First Days of Concurrent Opioid, Benzodiazepine Use
Five-fold increased risk of opioid-related overdose during first 90 days of concurrent use
Mandatory PDMP for Prescribers Lowers Opioid Dispensing Rate
Legislation that requires prescribers to check Ohio’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program was found to lead to a reduction in the quantity of opioids and benzodiazepines dispensed.
Adults Using Benzodiazepines More Likely to Receive Opioid Prescription
New opioid prescriptions for U.S. adults using benzodiazepines stopped increasing in 2010, although the likelihood of receiving a prescription is still elevated versus the general population.
Minimizing False Negatives in Urine Benzodiazepine Screening
Hydrolysis of urine before benzodiazepine immunoassay screening and optimization of the immunoassay absorbance cutoff were found to improve the rate of false-negative screening.
FDA: Opioid Addiction Medication Should Not Be Withheld While Taking CNS Depressants
A review of several published studies showed that the evidence did not support dose limitations or arbitrary caps of buprenorphine or methadone as a strategy to address benzodiazepine or other CNS depressant use in MAT-treated patients.
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