Deprescribing - Articles - Page 2

The “Z-Drugs”: Safety Issues and Misuse Potential

June 10, 2020

Rehan Aziz, MD. Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Dr. Aziz has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Once heralded for their relative safety compared to benzodiazepines, the “Z-drugs” are now known to be one of the most common causes of adverse drug events. Here we review the risks of Z-drugs and highlight updated dosing recommendations for zolpidem.

EXPERT Q&A

Gabapentin Misuse and Diversion

June 10, 2020

Rachel Vickers-Smith, PhD, MPH

Rachel Vickers-Smith, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor at University of Louisville, KY. Dr. Vickers-Smith has disclosed that she has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Clinicians are increasingly turning to gabapentinoids as non-opioid alternatives for pain treatment. Yet we may be inadvertently introducing new risks in so doing. Dr. Vickers-Smith reviews current epidemiology of gabapentinoid use and offers some clues regarding how to turn the tide on gabapentin misuse.

Muscle Relaxants: Sedatives Often Under the Radar

June 10, 2020

Michael Weaver, MD, FASAM.

Michael Weaver, MD, FASAM. Professor and medical director at the Center for Neurobehavioral Research on Addictions at the University of Texas Medical School. Author of Addiction Treatment (Carlat Publishing, 2017). Dr. Weaver has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Muscle relaxants encompass medications with different mechanisms of action—many of which have been used for decades. Yet most are sedating, can have significant side effects, and can interact with opioids and other substances to worsen CNS and respiratory depression.

EXPERT Q&A

Benzodiazepines: Old Medicines, New Concerns

June 10, 2020

Kenneth Morford, MD

Kenneth Morford, MD
Assistant Professor and Program Director, Collaborative Behavioral Health & Addiction Medicine in Primary Care (CHAMP) at Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Morford has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Benzodiazepine use is on the rise, and is implicated with a significant portion of opioid-related overdose deaths. Dr. Morford gives the latest on benzodiazepine prevalence and suggests strategies to employ in addiction treatment settings when working with patients who use benzodiazepines.

An Answer for Psychotic Depression

February 10, 2020

Randall Moore, MD.

Randall Moore, MD. Dr. Moore has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Research tells us how to start meds, but rarely when to stop them. This study brings some needed answers on discontinuing antipsychotics after recovery from psychotic depression.

Antipsychotic Maintenance: How Long is Enough?

January 13, 2020

Chris Aiken, MD.

Chris Aiken, MD. Editor-in-Chief of The Carlat Psychiatry Report. Practicing psychiatrist, Winston-Salem, NC. Dr. Aiken has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Atypical antipsychotics can work quickly in mood disorders, but their long-term risks give us pause. When is it safe to discontinue them? The answer, it turns out, depends on whether we look to industry-supported or industry-independent trials.

Deprescribing Medication

January 1, 2019

Barbara Farrell, PharmD

Barbara Farrell, PharmD

Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, University of Ottawa and Adjunct Assistant Professor, School of Pharmacy, University of Waterloo. Co-founder of the Canadian Deprescribing Network. Dr. Farrell has disclosed that she has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Deprescribing refers to lowering or stopping medications that might be causing harm or no longer providing benefit. It’s done in a planned, collaborative, and supervised way rather than simply the patient stopping the medications independently.