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IT’S TOUGH TO
live with chronic pain, but millions of
Americans do. That’s one reason why prescription opioids
are so popular.
These powerful medications are good at relieving pain
in the short term. They also help people with active cancer
and people receiving hospice or palliative care cope with
pain.
But opioids come with some serious risks, including the
risk of addiction and unintentional overdose and death.
As many as 1 in 4 people who take opioids for a long
time become addicted to the drugs (a condition known
as opioid use disorder). And more than 165,000 people
in the U.S. died from opioid overdose between 1999 and
2014.
Names to know
Well-known brand-name painkillers, like Vicodin (hydro-
codone) and OxyContin (oxycodone), are opioids. So are
generic drugs, such as:
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Buprenorphine
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Codeine
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Fentanyl
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Hydromorphone
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Methadone
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Morphine
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Oxymorphone
Finding solutions
To help curb opioid addiction and overdose deaths, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued
new guidelines for prescribing the drugs to treat chronic
pain. The guidelines encourage doctors to start low and
go slow when prescribing opioids in order to reduce the
risks linked to long-term use. (The guidelines don’t apply
What you
need to
knowabout
opioids
to cancer patients or those receiving hospice or palliative
care.)
If you’re living with chronic pain, talk with your doctor
about the risks and benefits of taking opioids. Be honest
about any personal history of drug or alcohol addiction.
Also discuss other ways to help manage your pain, such
as physical therapy, exercise and nonopioid medications.
Then if your doctor does prescribe an opioid, be sure to:
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Never mix the drug with alcohol. And don’t take it with
other substances or medications without your doctor’s OK.
»»
Never take more of the medication than prescribed.
»»
Never share the medication with friends or family. And
keep it locked away and well out of reach of curious chil-
dren and teens.
Alert your doctor if you experience side effects from
an opioid—such as constipation, nausea, vomiting, dry
mouth, sleepiness, confusion or decreased sex drive—or if
you need to take more of the medication to get the same
pain relief.
Additional source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
BMH named Center of Excellence
for opioid use disorder treatment
Butler Memorial Hospital has been named a Center of Excellence for opioid use disorder treatment by Penn-
sylvania Governor TomWolf and has received a $500,000 grant to assist in the treatment of opioid addiction.
In addition to treating addiction, these Centers of Excellence focus on treating the whole person through
team-based treatment, incorporating behavioral health, primary care and, when appropriate, evidence-
based medication-assisted treatment.
BMH was one of 25 additional centers to be implemented in January 2017. Applications were reviewed
individually on their own merit and decisions were based in part on the number of drug-related deaths per
100,000 residents in the county, available drug treatment resources in the county, the number of applicants
per county, and input from county mental and behavioral health entities.
“Addiction is a disease that does not discriminate,” says Ruthane Durso, Behavioral Health Program man-
ager. “Too many people are dying from drug overdoses in our region. “
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Pennsylvania leads the nation in drug
overdoses in men ages 12 to 25 and is ninth in the country among the general population.
Durso is working with community providers to develop strategies including education, outreach and fam-
ily counseling to realize the greatest benefit of the grant.
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