We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Safe Opioid Use, Storage, and Disposal Strategies in Cancer Pain Management.
- Authors
Reddy, Akhila; Cruz, Maxine
- Abstract
Opioids are required by a majority of patients with advanced cancer. Oncologists and palliative care clinicians are faced with the challenge of safely prescribing opioids in the current environment of an opioid crisis. Many patients with cancer use opioids unsafely, store them in unsecure locations, and do not dispose of unused opioids, leading to increased availability of these opioids for others to misuse. More than 50% of people who misuse opioids obtain the drugs from a friend or relative with or without their consent. Patient and provider education has been shown to improve safe opioid use, promote secure storage, and also increase disposal of unused opioids safely in drug take‐back programs that are now widely available. This article highlights the importance of patient education and cautious opioid prescribing in patients with cancer. Implications for Practice: The current opioid crisis makes it challenging to effectively manage cancer pain. Providers play a prominent role in minimizing opioid misuse. Cautious prescribing with limits enforced on the quantity of opioids prescribed, close follow‐up, and consistent and frequent provision of opioid education are a must. Evidence points to the impact of patient education in promoting safety around opioid use. Most people who misuse prescription opioids obtain them from family or friends. Storing opioids in the open or not disposing of unused opioids increases the availability of these opioids for misuse by others. The importance of not sharing, always locking up, and disposing of unused and expired opioids must be highlighted as part of the opioid education that must be delivered every time that opioids are prescribed. Information about local drug take‐back programs may also help increase disposal of unused opioids. Lung cancer is the most fatal malignancy in China. This study assessed genomic alterations of driver genes in a cohort of Chinese patients with non‐small cell lung cancer. This article reports the resulting analysis of germline mutations, EGFR variations, and ALK rearrangements, the most common and important driver genes in Chinese NSCLC population.
- Subjects
THERAPEUTIC use of narcotics; ANALGESICS; CANCER patient psychology; CANCER pain; DRUG storage; HEALTH education; HEALTH promotion; PATIENT education; PATIENT safety
- Publication
Oncologist, 2019, Vol 24, Issue 11, p1410
- ISSN
1083-7159
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1634/theoncologist.2019-0242