Latest NDTA Shows Opioids Pose Significant Impact to Public Health
https://nabp.pharmacy/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Kentucky-Newsletter-June-2018.pdf
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) indicates a
significant shift in the overall drug threat reported by law
enforcement over the last 10 years with opioids (including
controlled prescription drugs, fentanyl and other synthetic
opioids, and heroin) reaching epidemic levels and impact
–
ing significant portions of the United States. According
to the
2017 National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA)
report, every year since 2001, controlled prescription
drugs, specifically opioid analgesics, have been linked to
the largest number of overdose deaths of any illicit drug
class, outpacing those for cocaine and heroin combined.
From 2007 to 2010, responses to the National Drug
Threat Survey indicate cocaine was the greatest national
drug threat, followed by a significant decline as the heroin
threat increased between 2010 and 2016, eventually
becoming the greatest national drug threat in 2015.
Illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, primarily
sourced from China and Mexico and shipped directly to
the US or trafficked overland via Mexico and Canada,
are contributing factors in the current synthetic opioid
overdose epidemic. Traffickers in the US usually mix
fentanyl into heroin products and sometimes other illicit
drugs or press it into counterfeit prescription pills, often
without users’ awareness, which leads to overdose incidents, notes the
2017 NDTA. To access the 2017 NDTA, visit
FDA Advises on Opioid Addiction Medications and Benzodiazepines
Opioid addiction medications – buprenorphine and methadone –
should not be withheld from patients taking
benzodiazepines or other drugs that depress the central
nervous system (CNS), advises FDA. The combined use
of these drugs increases the risk of serious side effects;
however, the harm caused by untreated opioid addiction
usually outweighs these risks.
Careful medication management by health care providers can reduce these
risks, notes a safety alert. FDA is requiring this informa-
tion to be added to the buprenorphine and methadone drug
labels along with detailed recommendations for minimizing
the use of medication-assisted treatment drugs and
benzodiazepines together.
Health care providers should take several actions and
precautions and should develop a treatment plan when
buprenorphine or methadone is used in combination
with benzodiazepines or other CNS depressants. Additional information may be found at
Filed under: General Problems
Drug dealers/cartels are making illegally manufactured Fentanyl laced “opioids” (or pills that look like Rx opioids but are just all Fentanyl) and it’s killing people so their fix is to punish pain patients? How does this make sense?