Naloxone integral to combating opioid epidemic: AMA

Physicians are being encouraged to consider co-prescribing naloxone, the overdose reversal medication, for patients on an opioid regiment, part of the nationwide effort to combat the ongoing opioid epidemic.

The American Medical Association’s Opioid Task Force announced Thursday an update to its opioid prescription guidelines, encouraging physicians to screen patients taking opioids who may be at risk for an overdose and should be educated and co-prescribed naloxone.

Over 33,000 people died in 2015 from a drug overdose.

“If it were not for naloxone, it is likely that many thousands more would be dead from an opioid-related overdose,” Dr. Patrice Harris, chair of the AMA Opioid Task Force, said in a statement. “We know that naloxone — by itself — will not reverse the nation’s opioid epidemic, but it is a critical component that saves lives and provides a second chance.”

The task force was established in 2014 as a response to the worsening opioid epidemic. It’s comprised of more than 25 national, state, specialty and other health care facilities, according to its mission statement, and is focused on supporting good prescribing practices for physicians, enhancing education on opioid abuse and treatments, ending stigma for patients with chronic pain and/or a substance abuse disorder and expanding access to naloxone.

The recommendations include a list of questions physicians should ask their patients, the family members or a close friend:

• Is the patient receiving a high dose of opioids?

• Does the patient also have a prescription for a benzodiazepine?

• Does the patient have a history of substance use disorder?

• Does the patient have an underlying mental health or other medical condition that makes him or her more susceptible to overdose?

• Would the patient be in a position to help another person at risk of overdose?

A majority of states have laws that increase access to naloxone, which include allowing non-medical personnel to administer naloxone, protecting naloxone prescribers from criminal and civil liability, and protecting individuals from prosecution when they call 911 to report an overdose, according to data from the Prescription Drug Abuse Policy system.