harm-reduction | CARLAT PUBLISHING

Drug Overdoses in the US: Trends and Prevention Strategies

November 5, 2021

Joshua Sharfstein, MD

Professor of the Practice of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD.

Dr. Sharfstein has disclosed no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Increases in drug overdose mortality continues unabated around the country driven by widespread availability of illicit fentanyl and methamphetamines. Dr. Sharfstein provides context to these concerning trends and discusses prevention and harm reduction strategies clinicians can implement for their patients.

Naloxone Prescribing

July 3, 2021

Phillip Coffin, MD

Phillip Coffin, MD
Director of Substance Use Research, San Francisco Department of Public Health, San Francisco, CA. Dr. Coffin has disclosed no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Dr. Coffin provides our readers with everything there is to know about the nuts and bolts of naloxone prescribing for opioid use disorder. He tells us how patients can get their hands on naloxone, reviews the pros, cons, and costs of various naloxone formulations, and covers current naloxone laws.

A New High-Dose Naloxone: Life Saver or Punishment?

July 3, 2021

Noah Capurso, MD

Noah Capurso, MD

Dr. Capurso has disclosed no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

The FDA recently approved a nasal spray formulation of naloxone. Called Kloxxado, each spray delivers 8mg, twice as much as the most widely used formulation, Narcan. Whether or not this higher dose is necessary, is debatable.

Diagnosing and Treating Stimulant Use Disorders

May 21, 2021

Adriane dela Cruz, MD, PhD

Adriane dela Cruz, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX. Dr. dela Cruz has disclosed no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Dr. de la Cruz gives advice for working with patients with addiction to prescription and illicit stimulants. She provides concrete strategies for diagnosis, harm reduction, evidence-based treatments, and contingency management in this challenging patient population.

Management of Opioid Withdrawal in the Emergency Setting

March 19, 2021

Rehan Aziz, MD.

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.

An emergency department visit can be a “reachable moment” for people with unhealthy opioid use. Here, we review pharmacologic and harm-reduction strategies for use in those settings—and how to advocate for your patients when consulting with emergency clinicians.

Medical Marijuana for Chronic Pain: The Cart Before the Horse?

February 3, 2021

Alison Knopf

Alison Knopf Editor, Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly. Ms. Knopf has disclosed that she has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

As more states legalize cannabis for medical or recreational use, it’s becoming more common for our patients to add medical marijuana to their medication regimen for various purported indications. In this primer, we will synthesize the debate surrounding the use of medical marijuana for a variety of syndromes, with a focus on pain.

A Possible Option in Opioid-Related Harm Reduction

August 6, 2020

Greg Sazima, MD

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

Medications are the mainstay of treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD), but what if patients decline buprenorphine, injectable naltrexone, and methadone? In this randomized trial, authors compared hydromorphone (Dilaudid) with diacetylmorphine (the active ingredient in heroin) among patients who reported injecting heroin.