Industry-Funded Prescriber Education as a Barrier to the Prevention of Opioid Use Disorder (OUD)

Our efforts to reverse the opioid overdose epidemic have fallen short as Americans continue to develop new-onset opioid use disorder primarily through long-term prescription opioids. The volume of prescribed opioids in the U.S. is still twice the pre- opioid epidemic levels. Prevention opportunities have been overlooked, in part due to ongoing industry-funded provider education on opioid prescribing, which continues to influence hundreds of thousands of U.S. medical providers. There is growing awareness of the lack of effectiveness of long-term opioids for chronic non-cancer pain, and there are new psychological approaches for pain, new resources, and new methods of transitioning patients to partial opioid agonists if warranted. Challenges remain with risks of patient abandonment, and with optimal treatment of individuals already dependent on long-term opioids for pain.

Speaker: Joseph A. Adams, MD, FASAM
Medical Director, Glenwood Life Counseling Center, Baltimore, MD
Chair, Opioid, Pain & Addiction Committee, Maryland State Medical Society (MedChi)
Member, Public Policy Committee, American Society of Addiction Medicine
Advisory Board, StopStigmaNow.org