OpiSafe

08/31/2021

Gabi could have been another statistic for but instead, she's the face of survival and recovery. It was an honor to work with Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention and Costello Productions to tell Gabi's story. Have a look.

Gabriella almost lost her life to opioid overdoses. Learn how naloxone saved her life so she could start on the road to recovery. OpiRescue is an app that has helps…

06/09/2021

Calling all Colorado Hospital Association members! Join clinicians from Children’s Hospital ColoradoColorado and Denver Health for an opioid stewardship webinar on Monday, June 14 from noon - 1 p.m. They will share their experiences on stewardship and utilizing OpiSafe in their workflows. The session is intended for prescribing clinicians, physician leaders, quality personnel, and hospital administrators. CHA members can register here: https://lnkd.in/g6UTpBr

06/01/2021

The Denver Post asked our CEO Rob Valuck, PhD, to weigh in on this story. He's concerned about what's happening now and what it means for the future. That's because it can be years between the time an individual begins using a substance and when they might die of an overdose.

Fatal drug overdoses in Colorado surged 59% in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic ushered another public health crisis into the state, which largely avoided the grim scenes of the opioid epidemic sev…

05/21/2021

A recent study in JAMA found that youth given opioid prescriptions, even at short and low doses, are at risk of persistent use. That’s one of the reasons why one of the top 10 pediatric hospitals in the nation uses OpiSafe to strengthen its opioid stewardship and assure the safety of young patients.

This cohort study examines trajectories of opioid use among youths aged 10 to 21 years who had been prescribed opioids for the first time.

05/12/2021

A new study out of Wake Forest found opioid-induced respiratory depression significantly increases hospital costs. Patients with at least one event of opioid-induced respiratory depression were hospitalized an average of six days and related costs topped $21,000.

Researchers reported that patients who experienced at least one opioid-induced respiratory depression event on a hospital’s general care floor spent about 6 days in the hospital and had more than $21,000 in related costs.

05/11/2021

We're thrilled to see all the attention Don Stader, MD, our Medical Director of Emergency Medicine is receiving for his work with the Naloxone Project. Kudos!

When doctors write a prescription for the life-saving antidote to an opioid overdose, patients only bother to fill them about 5% of the time.

04/30/2021

We're not "anti-opioids.” We strongly believe in careful monitoring and assessment to assure the best patient outcomes and to avoid problems. There are, and always will be, some patients who legitimately need and benefit from opioids for pain management, and that includes many patients on hospice. Opioid prescribing and monitoring must be individualized, and that’s something we help prescribers with.

By Pat Anson, PNN Editor Overzealous enforcement of opioid guidelines has led to a significant decrease in opioid prescribing to terminally ill patients being admitted to hospice care, according to a new study that found some dying patients may have had their pain undertreated. The study, led by r

04/27/2021

Wow. We’ve all heard that drug overdose deaths jumped significantly in 2020, graphs like this one showing what’s happening in Colorado (estimates based on provisional data) still shock us. A drill-down on drug type reflected an even steeper increase in opioid overdose deaths.

04/23/2021

Justice-involved individuals with opioid used isorder (OUD) are at greatest risk for overdose the first two weeks after incarceration. Until medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is more readily available to these individuals, we believe everyone with OUD leaving incarceration should receive Naloxone and OpiRescue. We’ve already begun to work with Colorado and other states on this important issue.

Medicaid expansion seems to have helped, but not a lot

04/15/2021

We keep seeing more data about the deadly surge of opioid overdose deaths, exacerbated by the pandemic. Preliminary data by the CDC shows a 29% increase in overdose deaths from October 2019 to September 2020. That's 87,000 Americans no longer here. If you can do nothing else, please take a moment to download our free app OpiRescue. You never know when you might be presented with a life-saving opportunity.

04/13/2021

The new Administration is doubling down on its response to the opioid epidemic with the latest discretionary funding request for FY '22. The $10.7B request -- which represents a significant $3.9B increase over '21 allocations -- aims to "support research, prevention, treatment, and recovery support services, with targeted investments to support populations with unique needs, including Native Americans, older Americans, and rural populations." The request included several additional investments in public health and other crisis-related needs.