[6 MIN READ]

An adverse drug event (ADE) is defined as harm experienced by a patient resulting from exposure to a medication. An ADE can be caused by an error or poor care, but it is estimated that about half of ADEs are caused by a medication error; these are known as preventable adverse drug events.

Statistics are staggering; they reveal that ADEs lead to 700,000 ED visits, 100,000 hospitalizations, and between 7,000 and 9,000 deaths every year in the U.S. Even within the “safe” confines of hospital care, about 5% of hospitalized patients experience an ADE. 

Opioid analgesic use in the hospital setting is usually safe, but it is also associated with serious ADEs. In this issue, we present a case of an adverse drug event that illustrates many of the features known to contribute to opioid-related ADEs in the hospital. Whether this ADE was preventable, treatable or unavoidable – you be the judge!

[2 MIN READ]

The development of tools and resources to guide the busy practitioner in prescription decision-making is a welcome trend in healthcare, particularly when the information is instantly available from valuable sources, including Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs and the patient’s medication history. As outlined recently by Ms. Caldwell on the MEDHOST blog, marrying these resources into the prescription functionality of an EHR is a key component in the effort to combat the opioid crisis.

[9 MIN READ]

I certainly don’t pretend to have the answer to the question of how to eliminate the opioid epidemic. There are legislative, regulatory and policy issues far greater than any one of us, but what can the medical community do? This was the call to action by Stephen Stack, President of the AMA, who also happens to be an emergency physician. Dr. Stack clearly labels this as an epidemic and says we have to do something.

[5 MIN READ]

In a recent blog entitled “The Opioid Crisis: Far From Over,” I reviewed the genesis, magnitude and impact of the opioid crisis in America. Now I will switch gears a bit and look at the trends in the liability of opioid prescribing.

Civil Liabilities

First there’s civil liability, which can and does result in fines and judgment awards. One potential civil liability is overprescribing opioids in quantity and/or frequency over long periods.

[12 MIN READ]

For the past two decades, the U.S. has experienced alarming rates of opioid use, misuse, abuse, and overdose deaths, and we are now ground zero for the opioid epidemic. This epidemic is rife with risks for patients, practitioners, insurers, healthcare organizations, communities, and our entire society. This is the first article in a three-part series in which we’ll explore the opioid epidemic, liability trends related to opioid prescribing, and strategies to reduce harm from opioid prescribing and abuse.