All Articles on Opioids

• 
  It’s complicated: Opioids for low back pain

  A state-of-the-art review in The BMJ by Dr. Michael Von Korff and two colleagues describes an array of complications from long-term opioid use for chronic low back pain.
• 
  Opioids for chronic pain: Finding hope in advocacy and research

  In our first blog post by a patient, Dave Duhrkoop shares his experience with chronic pain and opioid medications—highlighting the role advocacy and research play in improving care and outcomes.
• Our research made news in 2014

  Here’s our list of top 10 research stories of 2014—plus links to the news reports they inspired.
• 
  Our top 10: Group Health studies that made the most news in 2014

  Here’s our list of top-ten research stories of 2014—plus links to the news reports they inspired.
• Opioid-prescribing safety: Finding real-world solutions for a nationwide epidemic

  Fatal overdoses involving prescribed opioids quadrupled from 1999 to 2009, climbing to almost 16,000 U.S. deaths annually—more than cocaine and heroin overdoses combined. What wasn’t clear was how to combat this growing threat.
• Opioids linked to higher risk of pneumonia in older adults

  Opioids—a class of medicines commonly given for pain—were associated with a higher risk of pneumonia in a study of 3,061 adults, aged 65 to 94, e-published in advance of publication in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The study from researchers at Group Health Research Institute and the University of Washington (UW) also found that benzodiazepines, which are drugs generally given for insomnia and anxiety, did not affect pneumonia risk.
• Group Health establishes major initiative to prevent opioid abuse and overdose

  A report in the August 2011 issue of Health Affairs describes a major initiative at Group Health to make opioid prescribing safer while improving care for patients with chronic pain. Health Affairs is the nation’s premier health policy journal, and its August issue focuses on substance abuse.