Opioid over prescription: Practice Gap discussion at Update Course 2018

Acetaminophen (Tylenol) plus NSAIDs (e.g., ibuprofen/Motrin) are equally as effective as narcotics for pain relief without the side effects of headache, constipation, and nausea.

5% of children will become long-term opioid users if they are given opioids, according to research by Kelly Harbaugh at the speaker's institution.

The problem of pediatric opioid use exists not just with surgeons but also with dentists and all kinds of healthcare providers.

Subsequent opioid prescriptions children receive are not necessarily from the surgeon who gave the first prescription.

Excess opioids given to patients are probably the biggest entry point for narcotics into our system and subsequent abuse.

Parents keep leftover opioid prescriptions, which then leak into society.

The most common reason for house burglaries now is those seeking drugs left over in drawers or medicine cabinets.

After stopping routine narcotic prescriptions for hernias and appendectomies, the speaker has not had one single patient call complaining about pain management.

Most urban areas now have traces of opioids in their water supply because so many people flush medications down the toilet.

Children have presented with bad toxic reactions after swallowing fentanyl patches, mistaking them for candy or gum.

Michigan has a network (Michigan Open/opiate network) that conducts drives at high schools throughout the state where parents or patients bring opiates for collection, removing immense amounts of opiates from the system.