Thread by @JillPiggott

.@AmerMedicalAssn STILL hasn't read a study they published in 2019 showing rx #opioid limits "have failed" to reduce #ODs.

@AmericanCancer Society explains: People "very rarely" become addicted from medical use. Thread: Research shows pushing patients off opioids can kill them.

"#Addiction is very rare" when #opioid pain meds are taken as prescribed (American Cancer Society). Large studies have put the rate of addiction in medical use at under 1%. #cpp

-Brat bmj.com/content/bmj/36…
-Ciesielski
amjmed.com/article/S0002-…
-AmCancer
pdffox.com/get-help-for-c…

Chen et al: Restrictions on rx #opioids "have failed" to reduce ODs. Complex mathematical modeling shows they'll likely have a "modest effect, at best" on expected rises in ODs, which are fueled by illegal drugs. jamanetwork.com/journals/jaman…

2,887 veterans whose pain meds were stopped in 2013 have died from overdose or suicide. 2,887 men & women.

Rx #opioid discontinuation puts people at 4 to 6.8 times the risk of death by #suicide or #OD compared w/ those who continue to receive care. bmj.com/content/368/bm…

In 2019, FDA warned prescribers that stopping rx #opioids can cause "uncontrolled pain, psychological distress, & #suicide."

@AmerMedicalAssn: Patient outcome (including whether people live or die) must be the metric for success, not an ever-lower script count.

I've been unable to reach someone who's either dead or still at high #suicide risk. For 10 yrs, an rx #opioid let her work f/t despite severe #pain. Then her doctor retired. No one else would write her rx. In 6 months, constant pain fractured her marriage & cost her a job.

After her doctor's retirement, the new doctor said she had to choose between severe #pain & #sleep because it wasn't safe for her to take the #benzodiazepine + #opioid she'd taken safely for a decade. She chose sleep. The pharmacist's the one who told her that was stopped too.

#MedicalTwitter: Treating #ChronicPain & #insomnia saves lives. If a person's safely taking a #benzodiazepine & an #opioid, keep an eye on them, don't kill them by pushing them off these meds unnecessarily. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.111…

#MedicalTwitter: Before I became disabled, I gave #homework assignments for a living. Here's yours: Watch @StefanKertesz. Prescribing isn't like #golf where the lowest score wins.

@NitaGhei @headsUPmigraine
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