Team approach for nonmedical opioid use

Although no one disputes the efficacy of opioids for the relief of pain related to cancer and its therapies, there is alarm over nonmedical opioid use (NMOU) and its substantial adverse impacts on patients, their families, and their communities. A new study reports on an approach called Compassionate High-Alert Team (CHAT) to counteract NMOU.

“Non-medical opiate use is a frequent and devastating complication for patients with advanced cancer. Patience with these conditions is distressing and time demanding for clinicians,” says study researcher Eduardo Bruera, MD, the McGraw Chair in the Department of Palliative, Rehabilitation, & Integrative Medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. “Our study found a major reduction in non-medical abuse behaviors accompanied by high adherence to the intervention among these patients.”