https://goo.gl/5fYPaf
Despite FDA warnings regarding the risk for adverse effects from administering long-acting opioids to patients who had not developed opioid tolerance through prior usage, the initiation of potent long-acting fentanyl patches (Duragesic, Janssen) without first receiving an opioid analgesic persists for these residents (J Am Geriatr Soc 2016;64:1772-1778).
Of 12,278 long-stay Medicare-enrolled nursing home residents who were prescribed long-acting opioids within 30 days of admission in 2011, 9.4% had not received an opioid analgesic in the previous 60 days, according to the study.
“Our conclusion is that opioid-naive initiation of long-acting opioids is a rare occurrence in nursing homes, and there has been a decrease in this practice since it was first described in the mid-2000s,” said Camilla B. Pimentel, MPH, PhD, a postdoctoral associate at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, in Worcester, and the lead author of the study. “However, opioid-naive initiation of fentanyl patches persists despite FDA safety communications and other national efforts to increase awareness of safe use of opioids.”