And thus went the autumn. 83 papers over the three months.
1) Infant and Youth Mortality Trends by Race/Ethnicity and Cause of Death in the United States.
Khan SQ, Berrington de Gonzalez A, Best AF, Chen Y, Haozous EA, Rodriquez EJ, Spillane S, Thomas DA, Withrow D, Freedman ND, Shiels MS.
JAMA Pediatr. 2018 Oct 1:e183317. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2018.3317. [Epub ahead of print]
Comment: U.S. is not looking so good due to drug overdose deaths.
Cheng T, Small W, Dong H, Nosova E, Hayashi K, DeBeck K.
Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2018 Nov 27;13(1):41. doi: 10.1186/s13011-018-0180-3.
Comment: This study compares young to older cohorts of people in Vancouver who use prescription opioids non-medically, although the two cohorts may have some qualitative differences that make them challenging to compare.
3) Evaluating opioid overdose using the National Violent Death Reporting System, 2016.
Clinton HA, Hunter AA, Logan SB, Lapidus GD.
Drug Alcohol Depend. 2018 Nov 15;194:371-376. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.11.002. [Epub ahead of print]
Comment: People who die of prescription opioid overdose tend to be relatively older and include more women, compared to deaths from illicit opioid toxicity.
Neale J, Brown C, Campbell ANC, Jones JD, Metz VE, Strang J, Comer SD.
Addiction. 2018 Nov 26. doi: 10.1111/add.14510. [Epub ahead of print]
Comment: Very.
Jakubowski A, Pappas A, Isaacsohn L, Castillo F, Masyukova M, Silvera R, Holaday L, Rausch E, Farooq S, Veltri KT, Cunningham CO, Bachhuber MA.
Subst Abus. 2018 Nov 26:1-5. doi: 10.1080/08897077.2018.1518836. [Epub ahead of print]
Comment: Providing naloxone in inpatient settings works well and reaches many individuals who don’t access naloxone from distribution programs.
Rezai-Zadeh KP, Engstrom RN, Sharma A, Chen Y, Chu J, Cox RP, Lee MT.
J Subst Abuse Treat. 2019 Jan;96:82-91. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2018.10.010. Epub 2018 Nov 2.
Comment: Autors suggest that millennials are frequently readmitted for treatment of heroin use disorder and generally resistant to treatment.
7) Fentanyl exposure among patients seeking opioid treatment.
Ochalek TA, Parker MA, Higgins ST, Sigmon SC.
J Subst Abuse Treat. 2019 Jan;96:23-25. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2018.10.007. Epub 2018 Oct 17.
Comment: People coming in for opioid use disorder treatment are frequently positive for both heroin and fentanyl.
8) Using Network and Spatial Data to Better Target Overdose Prevention Strategies in Rural Appalachia.
Rudolph AE, Young AM, Havens JR.
J Urban Health. 2018 Nov 21. doi: 10.1007/s11524-018-00328-y. [Epub ahead of print]
Comment: Great to see network data applied to overdose in a manner that moves both fields forward.
Gerak LR, Maguire DR, Woods JH, Husbands SM, Disney A, France CP.
J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2018 Nov 21. pii: jpet.118.253286. doi: 10.1124/jpet.118.253286. [Epub ahead of print]
Comment: Opioid antagonist that lasts many days – I’m not clear that this is an improvement over the short-term antagonism of naloxone. Would it be ethical to administer a long-term opioid antagonist in an emergency situation without the consent of a patient? Would it be safe given possible subsequent drug use behaviors?
10) Utilizing Buprenorphine in the Emergency Department after Overdose.
Johns SE, Bowman M, Moeller FG.
Trends Pharmacol Sci. 2018 Dec;39(12):998-1000. doi: 10.1016/j.tips.2018.10.002.
Comment: Lots of work going on in this domain.
11) Pharmacological Research as a Key Component in Mitigating the Opioid Overdose Crisis.
Baumann MH, Kopajtic TA, Madras BK.
Trends Pharmacol Sci. 2018 Dec;39(12):995-998. doi: 10.1016/j.tips.2018.09.006.
Comment: Still not sure we need new opioid antagonists.
Heimer R, Hawk K, Vermund SH.
Clin Infect Dis. 2018 Nov 17. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciy977. [Epub ahead of print]
Comment: A nice review of recent history.
Stam NC, Gerostamoulos D, Smith K, Pilgrim JL, Drummer OH.
Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2018 Nov 17:1-6. doi: 10.1080/15563650.2018.1529319. [Epub ahead of print]
Comment: Authors correctly note that most fatal overdose events are unwitnessed and that the availability of naloxone would only be expected to improve the outcome of events that are witnessed (17% of cases in this study – and about half of those involved a witness who may not have been able to effectively respond). This is consistent with prior modeling of naloxone and the anticipated modest effect on mortality.
Mahon LR, Hawthorne AN, Lee J, Blue H, Palombi L.
Harm Reduct J. 2018 Nov 16;15(1):57. doi: 10.1186/s12954-018-0262-6.
Comment: Survey of incoming first-year pharmacy students shows excellent opportunities for education.
15) The Emergency Department as an Opportunity for Naloxone Distribution.
Gunn AH, Smothers ZPW, Schramm-Sapyta N, Freiermuth CE, MacEachern M, Muzyk AJ.
West J Emerg Med. 2018 Nov;19(6):1036-1042. doi: 10.5811/westjem.2018.8.38829. Epub 2018 Sep 10. Review.
Comment: Systematic review of 5 studies of naloxone distribution from EDs showing that uptake is very challenging.
16) [The American opioid overdose crisis: A threat for France?]
Vodovar D, Langrand J, Tournier N, Mégarbane B.
Rev Med Interne. 2018 Nov 11. pii: S0248-8663(18)31164-0. doi: 10.1016/j.revmed.2018.10.389. [Epub ahead of print] French.
Comment: Situation “worrying”, but nothing like the U.S. crisis.
17) A Public Health Strategy for the Opioid Crisis.
Saloner B, McGinty EE, Beletsky L, Bluthenthal R, Beyrer C, Botticelli M, Sherman SG.
Public Health Rep. 2018 Nov/Dec;133(1_suppl):24S-34S. doi: 10.1177/0033354918793627.
Comment: Nice review of strategies.
Zhang T, Zheng X, Kim K, Zheng F, Zhan CG.
Sci Rep. 2018 Nov 13;8(1):16762. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-35196-8.
Comment: Using antagonists for heroin use disorder treatment. Always risky, sometimes has a benefit.
Puzantian T, Gasper JJ.
JAMA. 2018 Nov 13;320(18):1933-1934. doi: 10.1001/jama.2018.12291. No abstract available.
Comment: Limited.
20) Historical Review: Opiate Addiction and Opioid Receptors.
Wang S.
Cell Transplant. 2018 Nov 13:963689718811060. doi: 10.1177/0963689718811060. [Epub ahead of print]
Comment: Neurobiology of opioid use disorder.
21) Postmortem Toxicology of New Synthetic Opioids.
Concheiro M, Chesser R, Pardi J, Cooper G.
Front Pharmacol. 2018 Oct 26;9:1210. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2018.01210. eCollection 2018. Review.
Comment: Determining which drugs are responsible for death is always challenging, particularly as new symthetic drugs enter the market.
22) Opioid Overdose Hospitalizations among Medicare-Disability Beneficiaries.
Peters JL, Durand WM, Monteiro KA, Dumenco L, George P.
J Am Board Fam Med. 2018 Nov-Dec;31(6):881-896. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2018.06.180152.
Comment: The link between the U.S. shift from welfare to disability for support of those in need and the opioid crisis is well established. In this study, disability recipients accounted for 11.7% of hospitalizations for opioid overdose. Of note, most opioid overdose events don’t result in hospitalization, so this proportion may be more representative of complicated overdose events rather than overdose events outright.
Raleigh MD, Baruffaldi F, Peterson SJ, Le Naour M, Harmon TM, Vigliaturo JR, Pentel PR, Pravetoni M.
J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2018 Nov 8. pii: jpet.118.253674. doi: 10.1124/jpet.118.253674. [Epub ahead of print]
Comment: A fentanyl vaccine. Interesting.
24) Routine opioid outcome monitoring in community pharmacy: Pilot implementation study protocol.
Nielsen S, Kowalski M, Wood P, Larney S, Bruno R, Shanahan M, Lenton S, Dietze P, Green T, Murnion B, Ritter A.
Res Social Adm Pharm. 2018 Oct 22. pii: S1551-7411(18)30285-7. doi: 10.1016/j.sapharm.2018.10.024. [Epub ahead of print]
Comment: Study protocol for intervention for pharmacists working on overdose and naloxone.
25) Non-fatal opioid-related overdoses among adolescents in Massachusetts 2012-2014.
Chatterjee A, Larochelle MR, Xuan Z, Wang N, Bernson D, Silverstein M, Hadland SE, Land T, Samet JH, Walley AY, Bagley SM.
Drug Alcohol Depend. 2018 Oct 25;194:28-31. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.09.020. [Epub ahead of print]
Comment: Great study from a fantastic dataset proving critical to developing comprehensive public health responses to the overdose crisis. Adolescents were less likely than adults to be prescribed opioids or to receive medications for opioid use disorder before or after the overdose event – only 8% of adolescents got medications after the overdose, compared to 29% of adults. Interestingly, the majority of adolescent overdose events were among females.
Salas-Wright CP, Oh S, Vaughn MG, Muroff J, Amodeo M, Delva J.
Drug Alcohol Depend. 2018 Dec 1;193:169-176. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.09.009. Epub 2018 Oct 18.
Comment: Many adolescents think it impossible to obtain heroin – that proportion rose from 31% in 2002 to 41% in 2016.
Gray J, Saia K, Walley AY.
J Addict Med. 2018 Oct 30. doi: 10.1097/ADM.0000000000000468. [Epub ahead of print]
Comment: Medications for opioid use disorder are critical, even more so for the vulnerable populations often inappropriately denied such access – including incarcerated persons and pregnant women.
28) Pharmacologic Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder: a Review of Pharmacotherapy, Adjuncts, and Toxicity.
Toce MS, Chai PR, Burns MM, Boyer EW.
J Med Toxicol. 2018 Dec;14(4):306-322. doi: 10.1007/s13181-018-0685-1. Epub 2018 Oct 30. Review.
Comment: Review of medications used in opioid use disorder, including treatment agents (buprenorphine, methadone) and medications to manage symptoms / alternative therapies such as clonidine, kratom, loperamide, lofexidine, akuamma seeds, kava, and gabapentin.
Samples H, Williams AR, Olfson M, Crystal S.
J Subst Abuse Treat. 2018 Dec;95:9-17. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2018.09.001. Epub 2018 Sep 7.
Comment: Those more likely to discontinue were started on a lower dose of buprenorphine, male, younger, Black or Latinx, or had capitated insurance, other substance use disorders, HCV, prior overdose, or prior inpatient care. Besides the lower initial dose of buprenorphine and minority race/ethnicity, the other factors appear consistent well known barriers to treatment.
30) Trends in Overdose-Related Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrests in Arizona.
Smith G, Beger S, Vadeboncoeur T, Chikani V, Walter F, Bobrow B.
Resuscitation. 2018 Oct 20. pii: S0300-9572(18)31014-1. doi: 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2018.10.019. [Epub ahead of print]
Comment: Evaluating out-of-hospital cardiac arrests for cardiac versus drug toxicity as the etiology is fascinating and extremely important for national guidelines – including American Heart Association guidelines and training. The proportion of arrests due to drug overdose increased from 4.7% in 2010 to 6.6% in 2015.
31) Use of rapid fentanyl test strips among young adults who use drugs.
Krieger MS, Goedel WC, Buxton JA, Lysyshyn M, Bernstein E, Sherman SG, Rich JD, Hadland SE, Green TC, Marshall BDL.
Int J Drug Policy. 2018 Oct 12. pii: S0955-3959(18)30246-9. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2018.09.009. [Epub ahead of print]
Comment: People used fentanyl test strips and reported improved overdose risk behaviors after getting a positive fentanyl result.
Mayer S, Boyd J, Collins A, Kennedy MC, Fairbairn N, McNeil R.
Drug Alcohol Depend. 2018 Dec 1;193:69-74. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.09.006. Epub 2018 Oct 12.
Comment: At this stage, fentanyl is well-established to result in more rapid overdose and some cases of chest wall rigidity.
33) Safety of a Modified Community Trailer to Manage Patients with Presumed Fentanyl Overdose.
Scheuermeyer FX, Grafstein E, Buxton J, Ahamad K, Lysyshyn M, DeVlaming S, Prinsloo G, Van Veen C, Kestler A, Gustafson R.
J Urban Health. 2018 Oct 15. doi: 10.1007/s11524-018-0321-z. [Epub ahead of print]
Comment: I recall about 20 years ago walking through the Lower East Side of NYC and observing paramedics treat a person for overdose. They then put the man in the ambulance. The man walked out of the side door while the paramedics climbed in the rear. They came out and put the man back in the ambulance. While they walked out of the side door, the man walked out the back of the ambulance. This went in circles for some time, until the man eventually escaped and ran down the street. That is a failure to provide the care that people want.
34) Cost-effectiveness of naloxone kits in secondary schools.
Cipriano LE, Zaric GS.
Drug Alcohol Depend. 2018 Nov 1;192:352-361. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.08.003. Epub 2018 Sep 17.
Comment: Unlikely to meet any standard of cost-effectiveness.
Stewart B, Thomas RL, Tutag-Lehr V.
Curr Pharm Teach Learn. 2018 Aug;10(8):1013-1021. doi: 10.1016/j.cptl.2018.05.016. Epub 2018 Jun 7.
Comment: Some pharmacists are very much on top of these issues.
36) Commentary: The opioid overdose epidemic: Evidence-based interventions.
Barglow P.
Am J Addict. 2018 Oct 12. doi: 10.1111/ajad.12823. [Epub ahead of print]
Comment: Authors note that sharp opioid dose restrictions result in increased heroin and fentanyl use. I haven’t read the full paper, but am unclear if they have solid data for this, although it is likely true.
37) Cognitive and socio-cognitive functioning of chronic non-medical prescription opioid users.
Kroll SL, Nikolic E, Bieri F, Soyka M, Baumgartner MR, Quednow BB.
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2018 Dec;235(12):3451-3464. doi: 10.1007/s00213-018-5060-z. Epub 2018 Oct 11.
Comment: Morphine hair concentrations were related to deficits in recognizing emotion from faces, bodies, and complex scenes, in a dose-dependent fashion.
38) Opioid Overdose Prevention in Family Medicine Clerkships: A CERA Study.
Gano L, Renshaw SE, Hernandez RH, Cronholm PF.
Fam Med. 2018 Oct;50(9):698-701. doi: 10.22454/FamMed.2018.757385.
Comment: 50% of family medicine clerkships addressed providing naloxone – that’s pretty good given the novelty of the intervention for medical systems.
39) The Fentanyl Epidemic and Evolution of Fentanyl Analogs in the United States and the European Union.
Jannetto PJ, Helander A, Garg U, Janis GC, Goldberger B, Ketha H.
Clin Chem. 2018 Oct 10. pii: clinchem.2017.281626. doi: 10.1373/clinchem.2017.281626. [Epub ahead of print] Review.
Comment: This is a global crisis.
40) The Opioid Epidemic and the Role of the Occupational Health Nurse.
Higgins SA, Simons J.
Workplace Health Saf. 2018 Oct 10:2165079918796242. doi: 10.1177/2165079918796242. [Epub ahead of print]
Comment: Occupational health and management of opioid use disorder.
Katzman JG, Greenberg NH, Takeda MY, Moya Balasch M.
J Addict Med. 2018 Oct 9. doi: 10.1097/ADM.0000000000000461. [Epub ahead of print]
Comment: Interesting analysis. The first such analysis was a study of naloxone recipients from a naloxone distribution program. That study found that those who had previously witnessed an overdose or used heroin or methamphetamine were most likely to use naloxone to reverse an overdose. This study, among patients seeking treatment for opioid use disorder, finds such an association with having previously witnessed an overdose and testing positive for 2 or more illicit drugs, but also accessing emergency medical care for their own overdose, being younger, and being Latinx.
Peiper NC, Clarke SD, Vincent LB, Ciccarone D, Kral AH, Zibbell JE.
Int J Drug Policy. 2018 Oct 3. pii: S0955-3959(18)30213-5. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2018.08.007. [Epub ahead of print]
Comment: Second study from this update finding that use of fentanyl test strips was associated with fewer overdose risk behaviors.
Wolfson-Stofko B, Gwadz MV, Elliott L, Bennett AS, Curtis R.
Drug Alcohol Depend. 2018 Nov 1;192:362-370. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.08.001. Epub 2018 Sep 21.
Comment: Training service industry workers in overdose response / naloxone administration.
Nielsen S, Lintzeris N, Murnion B, Degenhardt L, Bruno R, Haber P, Johnson J, Hardy M, Ling S, Saddler C, Dunlop A, Demirkol A, Silsbury C, Phung N, Houseman J, Larance B.
Drug Alcohol Rev. 2018 Nov;37(7):887-896. doi: 10.1111/dar.12859. Epub 2018 Oct 2.
Comment: Most had commenced opioids for pain – and these were older than the others.
Waye KM, Goyer J, Dettor D, Mahoney L, Samuels EA, Yedinak JL, Marshall BDL.
Addict Behav. 2019 Feb;89:85-91. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.09.027. Epub 2018 Sep 25.
Comment: Peer services at the emergency department appears to be highly effective at getting naloxone into the hands of patients and establishing future outreach contact.
46) Commentary. Fentanyl-related death and the underreporting risk.
D’Errico S.
J Forensic Leg Med. 2018 Nov;60:35-37. doi: 10.1016/j.jflm.2018.09.007. Epub 2018 Sep 21.
Comment: More forensic work needed.
Ray BR, Lowder EM, Kivisto AJ, Phalen P, Gil H.
Addiction. 2018 Dec;113(12):2271-2279. doi: 10.1111/add.14426. Epub 2018 Sep 26.
Comment: Of 4726 patients administered naloxone in Marion County, Indiana, 9.4% died in about a year on average. The 13.4% with repeated non-fatal overdose events were twice as likely to die and 3 times as likely to die from a drug-related cause.
47) Delay-Dependent Impairments in Memory and Motor Functions After Acute Methadone Overdose in Rats.
Ahmad-Molaei L, Hassanian-Moghaddam H, Farnaghi F, Tomaz C, Haghparast A.
Front Pharmacol. 2018 Sep 10;9:1023. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2018.01023. eCollection 2018.
Comment: Methadone overdose as a cause of delayed neurologic/cognitive disorders.
48) Detection and Quantitation of Trace Fentanyl in Heroin by Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy.
Haddad A, Comanescu MA, Green O, Kubic TA, Lombardi JR.
Anal Chem. 2018 Nov 6;90(21):12678-12685. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.8b02909. Epub 2018 Oct 8.
Comment: More forensics.
49) Buprenorphine treatment formulations: Preferences among persons in opioid withdrawal management.
Kenney SR, Anderson BJ, Bailey GL, Stein MD.
J Subst Abuse Treat. 2018 Nov;94:55-59. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2018.08.011. Epub 2018 Aug 28.
Comment: Past overdose was associated with willingness to start buprenorphine – that’s an important result. About half preferred a sublingual formulation, while the others would opt for an injection or buccal implant.
50) Factors associated with methadone maintenance therapy discontinuation among people who inject drugs.
Lo A, Kerr T, Hayashi K, Milloy MJ, Nosova E, Liu Y, Fairbairn N.
J Subst Abuse Treat. 2018 Nov;94:41-46. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2018.08.009. Epub 2018 Aug 23.
Comment: Lack of financial support, incarceration, and homelessness were associated with stopping methadone therapy.
Stone AC, Carroll JJ, Rich JD, Green TC.
Drug Alcohol Depend. 2018 Nov 1;192:94-97. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.07.019. Epub 2018 Aug 25.
Comment: Methadone still works in the context of fentanyl.
Curtis M, Dietze P, Aitken C, Kirwan A, Kinner SA, Butler T, Stoové M.
Harm Reduct J. 2018 Sep 21;15(1):48. doi: 10.1186/s12954-018-0255-5.
Comment: Yes, prisoners will accept naloxone. Just give it to them!!!
53) Changing dynamics of the drug overdose epidemic in the United States from 1979 through 2016.
Jalal H, Buchanich JM, Roberts MS, Balmert LC, Zhang K, Burke DS.
Science. 2018 Sep 21;361(6408). pii: eaau1184. doi: 10.1126/science.aau1184.
Comment: Fascinating look at the opioid crisis as just the latest wave in a 38+ year trend of increasing drug overdose mortality.
Židková M, Horsley R, Hloch O, Hložek T.
J Forensic Sci. 2018 Sep 19. doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.13903. [Epub ahead of print]
Comment: Bummer.
55) The Opioid Crisis in Missouri: A Call to Action for Physicians, Legislators, and Society.
Lewis L, Carpenter CR, Schwarz ES, Jotte RS, Waller C, Winograd R, Williams R, Stenger S, Rehder H, Governick S, Giuffra L.
Mo Med. 2017 Nov-Dec;114(6):440-446.
Comment: Why are there barriers to accessing medications for opioid use disorder treatment?
56) Emerging Evidence for Cannabis’ Role in Opioid Use Disorder.
Wiese B, Wilson-Poe AR.
Cannabis Cannabinoid Res. 2018 Sep 1;3(1):179-189. doi: 10.1089/can.2018.0022. eCollection 2018. Review.
Comment: Cannabis effects seem to be highly dependent upon set and setting (i.e. expected effects and environment). I wonder if there is a way to leverage cannabis toward treatment ends by adding a counseling component to medical cannabis recommendations.
Fischer B, Jones W, Varatharajan T, Malta M, Kurdyak P.
Prev Med. 2018 Nov;116:112-118. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2018.09.001. Epub 2018 Sep 11.
Comment: Yes, there are correlations.
Karamouzian M, Dohoo C, Forsting S, McNeil R, Kerr T, Lysyshyn M.
Harm Reduct J. 2018 Sep 10;15(1):46. doi: 10.1186/s12954-018-0252-8.
Comment: Another fentanyl test paper.- this one showing that most didn’t want drugs checked.
Jiang Y, McDonald JV, Goldschmidt A, Koziol J, McCormick M, Viner-Brown S, Alexander-Scott N.
R I Med J (2013). 2018 Sep 4;101(7):25-30.
Comment: Most decedents had substance use disorder diagnoses, multiple drugs attributed to death, and fentanyl as one contributing drug.
60) Acceptability of Naloxone Dispensing Among Pharmacists.
Do V, Behar E, Turner C, Geier M, Coffin P.
J Pharm Pract. 2018 Sep 4:897190018798465. doi: 10.1177/0897190018798465. [Epub ahead of print]
Comment: This paper on pharmacist acceptability of naloxone was done prior to FDA-approval of formulations intended for lay administration. It is likely that a similar study today would show even greater acceptability – and fewer concerns.
Pietrusza LM, Puskar KR, Ren D, Mitchell AM.
J Addict Nurs. 2018 Jul/Sep;29(3):188-195. doi: 10.1097/JAN.0000000000000235.
Comment: Only 33% of patients picked up the naloxone at the pharmacy. Once again, it is clear that we have to reach outside of the established healthcare system in order to properly care for those patients most in need.
62) Naloxone Effectiveness: A Systematic Review.
Chimbar L, Moleta Y.
J Addict Nurs. 2018 Jul/Sep;29(3):167-171. doi: 10.1097/JAN.0000000000000230.
Comment: Unable to access the full paper and the abstract lacks key details needed to evaluate the quality of the study.
Lockett TL, Hickman KL, Fils-Guerrier BJ, Lomonaco M, Maye JP, Rossiter AG.
J Addict Nurs. 2018 Jul/Sep;29(3):157-162. doi: 10.1097/JAN.0000000000000231.
Comment: Basic education can improve patient management.
McKnight C, Des Jarlais DC.
Int J Drug Policy. 2018 Oct;60:82-88. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2018.08.004. Epub 2018 Aug 31.
Comment: Interview study. “PWUD utilized test shots, a consistent drug dealer, fentanyl test strips, naloxone, getting high with or near others and reducing drug use to protect from overdose.”
65) An overview of take-home naloxone programs in Australia.
Dwyer R, Olsen A, Fowlie C, Gough C, van Beek I, Jauncey M, Lintzeris N, Oh G, Dicka J, Fry CL, Hayllar J, Lenton S.
Drug Alcohol Rev. 2018 May;37(4):440-449. doi: 10.1111/dar.12812.
Comment: Evaluation data of naloxone programs in Australia.
66) Addressing the growing opioid and heroin abuse epidemic: a call for medical school curricula.
Ratycz MC, Papadimos TJ, Vanderbilt AA.
Med Educ Online. 2018 Dec;23(1):1466574. doi: 10.1080/10872981.2018.1466574.
Comment: Agreed.
67) America’s Opioid Epidemic: a Comprehensive Review and Look into the Rising Crisis.
Ostling PS, Davidson KS, Anyama BO, Helander EM, Wyche MQ, Kaye AD.
Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2018 Apr 4;22(5):32. doi: 10.1007/s11916-018-0685-5. Review.
Comment: Authors note restrictions on opioid prescribing and costs of naloxone as contributing to the crisis and controlled substance monitoring programs and abuse-deterrent opioid formulations as solutions. Hmm. First, we use the term “controlled substance monitoring programs” because the commonly-used “prescription drug monitoring program” is a misnomer – these systems only track controlled substances. If they tracked all prescription drugs, you can be certain they would be limited to healthcare rather than emphasizing law enforcement access as they currently do. We would also probably have something closer to universal healthcare in the country. Second, I’m not convinced that these interventions have much of an impact on the crisis.
Peacock A, Larance B, Farrell M, Cairns R, Buckley N, Degenhardt L.
BMJ Open. 2018 Mar 23;8(3):e020006. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-020006.
Comment: Study protocol (I’ve noticed that Australian investigators seem to be publishing protocols prior to conducting studies).
Gunasekaran B, Weil J, Whelan T, Santamaria J, Boughey M.
Intern Med J. 2018 Feb;48(2):198-200. doi: 10.1111/imj.13692.
Comment: Wide variations in naloxone use and dose, consistent with other studies.
70) Newly Emerging Drugs of Abuse and Their Detection Methods: An ACLPS Critical Review.
Liu L, Wheeler SE, Venkataramanan R, Rymer JA, Pizon AF, Lynch MJ, Tamama K.
Am J Clin Pathol. 2018 Jan 29;149(2):105-116. doi: 10.1093/ajcp/aqx138. Review.
Comment: Still more forensics!
Soichot M, Julliand S, Filatriau J, Hurbain A, Bourgogne E, Mihoubi A, Gourlain H, Delhotal-Landes B.
J Anal Toxicol. 2018 May 1;42(4):255-264. doi: 10.1093/jat/bkx111.
Comment: Accidental drug poisonings among children are really tragic. This brings to mind a separate, but fascinating, story that contributed to the 1980s War on Drugs. That story involved a journalist for the Washington Post who won the Pulitzer Prize for a story on child heroin use that led to a huge citywide search for the subject of the story … and was later established to be entirely fraudulent, long after additional anti-drug legislation was passed in response.
Goldman-Hasbun J, DeBeck K, Buxton JA, Nosova E, Wood E, Kerr T.
Harm Reduct J. 2017 Dec 22;14(1):79. doi: 10.1186/s12954-017-0206-6.
Comment: This study of naloxone among youth in Vancouver was done in the early days of naloxone in Canada. They have since vastly expanded distribution and I suspect the data would look different today.
73) Opiate agonist treatment to improve health of individuals with opioid use disorder in Lebanon.
Ghaddar A, Abbas Z, Haddad R.
Harm Reduct J. 2017 Dec 8;14(1):78. doi: 10.1186/s12954-017-0204-8.
Comment: People do better in multiple aspects of life.
74) Housing and overdose: an opportunity for the scale-up of overdose prevention interventions?
Bardwell G, Collins AB, McNeil R, Boyd J.
Harm Reduct J. 2017 Dec 6;14(1):77. doi: 10.1186/s12954-017-0203-9.
Comment: Totally.
75) Hypoglycemia and Sudden Death During Treatment With Methadone for Opiate Detoxification.
Plescia CJ, Manu P.
Am J Ther. 2018 Mar/Apr;25(2):e267-e269. doi: 10.1097/MJT.0000000000000692.
Comment: Methadone overdose has been associated with hypoglycemia on many occasions.
Petterson AG, Madah-Amiri D.
Harm Reduct J. 2017 Nov 21;14(1):74. doi: 10.1186/s12954-017-0200-z.
Comment: Give naloxone to prisoners prior to release.
Deanna Wilson J, Berk J, Matson P, Spicyn N, Alvanzo A, Adger H, Feldman L.
J Gen Intern Med. 2018 Nov 7. doi: 10.1007/s11606-018-4733-y. [Epub ahead of print] No abstract available.
Comment: Survey of resident physicians in Baltimore regarding naloxone prescribing. Authors felt they underestimated overdose risk among patients prescribed opioids – and noted that they didn’t prescribe naloxone to a lot of patients who they felt were at risk for overdose.
78) Managing the opioid epidemic: back to the basics with resuscitation.
Hung O, Stewart RD, Malpas G, Phipps S, Hung D.
CJEM. 2018 Nov 8:1-2. doi: 10.1017/cem.2018.453. [Epub ahead of print] No abstract available.
Comment: Authors argue that naloxone should come after establishing rescue breathing and/or chest compressions.
Oliva EM, Bounthavong M.
Addiction. 2018 Dec;113(12):2316-2317. doi: 10.1111/add.14443. Epub 2018 Oct 21. No abstract available.
Comment: As above.
80) The changing landscape of naloxone availability in the United States, 2011 – 2017.
Freeman PR, Hankosky ER, Lofwall MR, Talbert JC.
Drug Alcohol Depend. 2018 Oct 1;191:361-364. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.07.017. Epub 2018 Aug 30.
Comment: Big increase in prescribed naloxone since nasal approved by FDA.
Samuels EA, Bernstein SL, Marshall BDL, Krieger M, Baird J, Mello MJ.
J Subst Abuse Treat. 2018 Nov;94:29-34. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2018.07.013. Epub 2018 Aug 1. No abstract available.
Comment: People who land in the ED with opioid overdose have high rates of mortality in the subsequent year, women and older patients are less likely to be provided with naloxone, and recovery coaches may reduce time to treatment uptake.
82) Pregnancy and Naltrexone Pharmacotherapy.
Jones CW, Terplan M.
Obstet Gynecol. 2018 Oct;132(4):923-925. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000002864.
Comment: Data do not support naltrexone during pregnancy at this time.
Binswanger IA, Glanz JM.
Drug Saf. 2018 Oct;41(10):979-980. doi: 10.1007/s40264-018-0705-8. No abstract available.
Comment: There are some data suggesting increased overdose risk in the 1-month after ending injectable naltrexone treatment.