Does rotation of buprenorphine from full μ-opioid receptor agonists improve pain-related outcomes and lessen adverse effects in patients with chronic pain and long-term use of narcotics?
Mixed Results for Discontinuing Chronic Opioid Therapy at VHA
While discontinuing chronic opioid therapy in veterans appears to be associated with decreased diagnoses for opioid-related adverse outcomes, the association with substance use disorders appears to be inconclusive, according to a new study.
LAIs Improve VHA Schizophrenia Medication Adherence
Ensuring high rates of medication adherence is one of the greatest challenges in treating schizophrenia patients at the VA and elsewhere.
Care of Servicemembers With Chronic Pain Hampered by Limited Research
While it’s been long understood that servicemembers suffer from chronic pain at higher rates than their civilian counterparts, a new study by the RAND Corp. has found that a lack of administrative data and a dearth of research into treatments limits how successfully that pain can be treated.
Bariatric Surgery Linked to Increased Unhealthy Alcohol Use in Veterans
Concerns about long-term effects after bariatric surgery have been heightened by a new study suggesting that unhealthy alcohol use in veterans was much more common after undergoing a bariatric surgical procedure.
Insomnia Increases Depression Risk With Opioid Use
How does insomnia combined with chronic opioid analgesic use (OAU) affect veterans’ likelihood of having a new depression episode?
Recent Smoking Quitters Also Benefit Before Lung Cancer Surgery
Tobacco use can have a detrimental effect on postoperative outcomes, which is why patients are urged to quit smoking as long as possible before surgery.
Opioid Prescribing Common to Military Spouses
While use and misuse of opioids by active-duty servicemembers has been examined in several studies, much less is known about use of painkillers by their spouses.
Spinal Cord Stimulator Reduces Veterans’ Opioid Usage
Spinal cord stimulator (SCS) implantation has shown some effectiveness for chronic pain, including painful musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).
Mild TBI Exacerbates Issues for Early Binge Drinkers
Does early adolescent binge drinking (BD) increases the risk for and/or severity of psychopathology in post-9/11 veterans, and how does mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) affect the risk?
A Battle on Two Fronts: Coronavirus and Addiction
BETHESDA, MD—Researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) had been fighting one daunting national health crisis already when the COVID-19 pandemic launched its attack on the U.S. Now, these federal scientists face the dual challenges of reducing the...
Injection or Pills?
Clinicians treating substance use disorder patients at the VA have faced a specific dilemma during the COVID-19 pandemic: How to deal with veterans who need to receive monthly injections at clinics and VAMCs as a critical component of their therapy. Making the choices even more difficult is recent research showing that injectables significantly extend time to relapse for those patients.
For Veterans, Upping Opioid Dosage Doesn’t Provide Superior Pain Relief
LITTLE ROCK, AR—More isn’t necessarily better when it comes to opioid treatment. That was the somewhat surprising finding of a study focusing on veterans with chronic pain related to arthritis, back pain, neck pain, neuropathic pain or headache/migraine. A report in...
Menopausal Symptoms Increase Long-Term Opioid Use Risk
Unrecognized by many in healthcare is that the greatest increases in long-term opioid use and opioid-related overdose mortality in recent years have been among women in midlife.
Benzodiazepines Prescribed Long-Term for COPD/PTSD
SEATTLE — Symptoms of insomnia and anxiety are common among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and that is especially the case among patients with comorbid mental health disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder, according to a new study.
Political Issues Related to VA’s Limited Approval of Esketamine for Depression
WASHINGTON — A VA panel this summer opted not to add the new depression medication esketamine, Spravato, to the department’s formulary in the usual way. This came despite strong support from President Donald Trump and an effort by VA officials to fast-track the drug for approved use at VA facilities.
MHS Pharmacies Prescribed 6,200 Naloxone Kits Under New Directive
FALLS CHURCH, VA — In June 2018, Defense Health Agency Director Raquel Bono, MD, directed all MHS pharmacies to dispense the opioid reversal agent naloxone to eligible beneficiaries and those who request it without requiring a prescription. Since then, MHS pharmacists have provided more than 6,200 kits.
Long-term Opioid Prescribing Declines in VHA, Bucking National Trend
Extended Prescribing Dropped from 9.5% in 2012 to 6.2% in 2016
By Brenda L. Mooney
IOWA CITY, IA—Long-term prescribing of opioid painkillers is on the decline at the VA, in contrast to what appears to be happening outside of federal medicine.