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Top hospitals across the United States are changing protocols to decrease the number of opioids prescribed to women after a cesarean section. For example, at the Cleveland Clinic, doctors are now ordering large doses of Tylenol and Motrin instead of prescribing oxycodone unless an opioid is requested. After implementing this change, opioid use after C-sections dropped by more than two-thirds. The change allows for more women to be alert during afterbirth, and it is generally considered safe for breastfed babies. The change comes from a study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, which found that one in 300 women who take opioids for the first time after a C-section will become dependent on opioids. While this number is low, about a third of U.S. newborns are delivered by C-section.
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In the midst of the current opioid crisis, medication can decrease opioid cravings and improve an individual’s chances of recovery. Many patients try several different medications before finding the right fit for them. Brixadi, a new addiction treatment drug, is ready for market but may be prevented from going on sale until 2024 even though it has already been deemed safe and effective by the FDA. Sublocade, a form of buprenorphine that is already available, has been designated an “orphan drug” by the FDA, which gives it five more years of exclusive market access.
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A new study in The Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry found that children whose parents are prescribed opioids are twice as likely to attempt suicide as children of parents who were not prescribed opioids. This finding came after researchers adjusted for other factors, such as parental history of suicide and depression. The study speculated that some opioid users might provide less care, monitoring and affection for their children, thereby leading to higher rates of suicide among children of opioid users.
The AMA recently released several recommendations to policymakers on how they can help end opioid misuse. The recommendations come from the AMA’s Opioid Task force, which launched in 2014 to identify and implement best practices in medical offices to help curb the opioid epidemic. Some of the recommendations call on policymakers to eliminate barriers to treatment for opioid use disorder/substance use disorder and to remove the administrative burdens that delay FDA-approved medications for medication-assisted treatment (MAT).
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