Patient-Centered Reduction or Discontinuation of Long-term Opioid Analgesics

Abstract

Prescription opioid use continues to contribute to significant morbidity and mortality in the United States.^1-4 In 2017, 17 029 of the 47 600 opioid-related overdose deaths involved prescription opioids.⁵ Nearly 2 million individuals in the United States have a prescription opioid use disorder.¹ At the same time, approximately 11% of US adults report daily pain,¹ and an estimated 3% to 4% use opioids long-term to help manage chronic pain.¹ Although limiting opioid analgesic prescribing to situations for which benefits outweigh risks can improve individual and population health, rapidly decreasing or abruptly discontinuing long-term opioid analgesics can significantly increase the risk of adverse consequences, including opioid-related hospitalizations and emergency department visits.³ Identify all potential conflicts of interest that might be relevant to your comment. Conflicts of interest comprise financial interests, activities, and relationships within the past 3 years including but not limited to employment, affiliation, grants or funding, consultancies, honoraria or payment, speaker's bureaus, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, royalties, donation of medical equipment, or patents planned, pending, or issued. Err on the side of full disclosure. If you have no conflicts of interest, check "No potential conflicts of interest" in the box below. The information will be posted with your response. Not all submitted comments are published. Please see our commenting policy for details.