Background: There were approximately 46,000 opioid overdose deaths in 2017. It is known that opioid overdose risk is increased in patients with a diagnosis of substance use disorder, prior opioid overdose, and high suspicion of risk as assessed by clinical teams. The Risk Index for Overdose or Serious Opioid-Induced Respiratory Depression (RIOSORD) is a validated […]

Background: Pain management is a key quality indicator in hospital satisfaction surveys throughout the United States. Inadequate pain management contributes to longer inpatient length of stay, medical complications, inadequate healing, and dissatisfaction with the hospital experience. In the future, poor performance of the key quality indicators will translate into hundreds of thousands of dollars lost […]

Background: New Mexico has a long-standing history of implementing harm reduction strategies for the prevention of opioid overdose. Most recently, on June 14, 2019, SB221 added language to the New Mexico Pain Relief Act requiring health care providers prescribing opioid analgesics for 5 days or longer to co-prescribe an opioid antagonist along with written information […]

Case Presentation: Patient is an 8‐year‐old male with no significant medical history other than a long‐standing history of constipation who presented to a school‐based clinic with abdominal pain and fecal incontinence. He was diagnosed with fecal impaction, with a mildly distended abdomen and a large amount of stool palpated on physical exam. He was admitted […]

Background: Drug overdose deaths involving opioids are on the rise in the setting of the current opioid epidemic in the United States (US).1 In 2017 there were ~46.6 drug overdose deaths a day in the US involving prescription opioids.1 Naloxone is a proven and effective opioid antagonist that is FDA approved for use in the […]

Background: Background Fatalities caused by drug-overdose have increased in recent years across the US and are now the leading cause of injury-related death in the United States. Drug related deaths with cointoxicants are being seen more often and the increase in prevalence of opioid overdoses with possible concomitant medication use is a public health concern […]

Case Presentation: A 45‐year‐old man with history of hepatitis C presented with a 7‐day history of worsening pain in his right arm and chest. His symptoms initially began as a sharp stabbing pain in his right bicep that within 2 days was associated with overlying warmth, swelling, and erythema. The patient was started on oral […]