Methadone for Pain Management: The Clinician's Role in Reducing the Risk for Overdose

Presenter(s)

Overview

CDC estimates that methadone was involved in 5,000 overdose deaths in the United States in 2009. Nonetheless, many methadone prescriptions are being written for conditions for which it might not be appropriate, and methadone is a preferred drug on many formularies. Prescribing methadone for chronic pain safely requires familiarity with its unique pharmacology and dosing recommendations. Join us for this COCA call where subject matter experts will review the epidemiology of methadone overdoses in the United States and discuss guidelines for appropriate opioid prescribing.

Objectives

At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to accomplish the following:

• Discuss the role of methadone in fatal drug overdoses in the United States.
• Compare and contrast methadone prescribing to other opioid analgesics
• State circumstances under which use of methadone might be appropriate

Call Materials

• Slides:View Now
• Webcast:Watch Now
• Audio:Listen Now
• Transcript:Read Now

Additional Resources

• Vital Signs: Risk for Overdose from Methadone Used for Pain Relief - United States, 1999-2010. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), July 6, 2012; 61(26),493-497
• CDC Vital Signs: Prescription Painkiller Overdoses - Use and Abuse of Methadone as a Painkiller. July 2012
• This week, Science Clips is pleased to collaborate with CDC Vital Signs by featuring scientific articles from the current issue on methadone overdoses CDC Science Clips: June 25 - 29; Vol. 4, Issue 26, 7/2/12

Call Format

• Live webcast and audio conference call on 8/01/12: 2:00 - 3:00 PM
• Web-on-demand training after 3:00 PM on 8/02/12
• Materials: PowerPoint slide set

Additional Call Information