5 Ways for Addressing the Opioid Epidemic: Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety Encourages Clinicians to Take the Lead in Addressing this National Crisis

CHICAGO, Sept. 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS) encourages clinicians to take the lead in addressing the opioid epidemic.

"Prince was not the first, nor unfortunately the last, person to die due to an opioid-related event," said Michael Wong, JD (Executive Director, PPAHS). "According to the medical examiner, Prince died from a self-administered fentanyl overdose. While Prince may have become the poster child for the opioid epidemic and a call for restrictions on the use of opioids, it must not be forgotten that opioids play a vital role in the management of pain, such as during surgery or to relieve chronic pain."

Citing recently available resources from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Mr. Wong cited five ways clinicians can take the lead in addressing the opioid epidemic:

#1 - Ensure Prescribing an Opioid is Appropriate
#2 - Consider the Use of Non-Opioid Treatment
#3 - Recognize that Each Patient Reacts Differently to Opioid Dosages
#4 - Reduce the Long-Term Use of Opioids
#5 - Ensure the Highest Risk Patients are Monitored

To read further about these five resources, please go to the PPAHS blog at http://www.ppahs.org/blog/

For other resources on the prescribing of opioids by the CDC, please visit CDC's resource page.

About Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety

Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety is a non-profit 501(c)(3) whose mission is to promote safer clinical practices and standards for patients through collaboration among healthcare experts, professionals, scientific researchers, and others, in order to improve healthcare delivery. For more information, please go to www.ppahs.org.

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SOURCE Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS)

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