Are you a proponent for Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder? Do you believe that a 12 Step Program should not incorporate MAT? Is addiction is a voluntary disorder in your opinion? There was a very interesting article posted today on MedScape for Nurses, titled "Opioid Crisis [...]
OSHA posts additional guidance regarding drug testing post-accident. http://bit.ly/2nx14ey
According to the National Safety Council, Missouri’s legislature is again mired in debate over implementation of a proposed prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP). As a past Missouri native, this reluctance to implement a PDMP is distressing. PDMPs are databases designed to track prescribing and dispensing of controlled prescription drugs. [...]
I am not referring to discussing sensitive topics such as the upcoming inauguration or religion. Rather, I am referring to obtaining an honest and accurate drug and alcohol usage history from the injured worker, or your patient. When I was in nursing school we were taught when asking how [...]
Here is a link to Part 2 of an article written for SEAK. http://workerscompensationconference.com/pain-relief-tylenol-vs-opiod/
TALKING TO PATIENTS ABOUT SENSITIVE TOPICS As the opioid epidemic and its aftermath continues to run its course, the federal government is beginning to take notice and more importantly, action. At the National Prescription Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit last week in Atlanta a surprise visitor, President Obama attended [...]
I have been doing some research for an upcoming presentation and for a research paper for an organization I recently joined. Everything I have been reading lately points to concerns that decreased opioid prescribing will lead to an increase in heroin abuse. I have shared this information in numerous talks [...]
SEAK asked me to post an update to my talk I gave on cost drivers last year at their National Occupational Conference. Here is a link to that update: http://workerscompensationconference.com/workers-compensation-cost-driver-opioids/
In previous segments of this post we discussed the concept of Number Needed to Treat (NNT) and which medication or combination medication had the lowest NNT. Surprisingly the medication with the lowest NNT was not an opioid. It was Ibuprofen 200 mg + acetaminophen 500 mg: The combination of these [...]
Number Needed to Treat (NNT) was a term with which I was unfamiliar. The Center for Evidence Based Medicine defines the Number Needed to Treat as the number of patients you need to treat to prevent one additional bad outcome (death, stroke, etc.). For example, if a drug has an NNT [...]
I read an article today that I am really excited about. It was written by Dr. Donald Teater, M.D. and titled, "Evidence for the efficacy of pain medications." At first I thought, "I have read a million articles like this." But I got sucked in pretty quickly as it [...]
