Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-mp689 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T10:56:56.270Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Nonconsensual Dose Reduction Mandates are Not Justified Clinically or Ethically: An Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Abstract

This manuscript describes the institutional and clinical considerations that apply to the question of whether to mandate opioid dose reduction in patients who have received opioids long-term. It describes how a calamitous rise in addiction and overdose involving opioids has both led to a clinical recalibration by healthcare providers, and to strong incentives favoring forcible opioid reduction by policy making agencies. Neither the 2016 Guideline issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention nor clinical evidence can justify or promote such policies as safe or effective.

Type
Symposium Articles
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Hedegaard, H., Miniño, A. M., and Warner, M., “Drug Overdose Deaths in the United States, 1999-2018,” Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020, available at <https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db356.htm> (last visited April 20, 2020).Google Scholar
Martins, S. S., Sarvet, A., Santaella-Tenorio, J., Saha, T., Grant, B. F., and Hasin, D. S., “Changes in Us Lifetime Heroin Use and Heroin Use Disorder: Prevalence from the 2001-2002 to 2012-2013 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions,” JAMA Psychiatry 74, no. 5 (2017): 445-455.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saha, T. D., Kerridge, B. T., Goldstein, R. B., Chou, S. P., Zhang, H., Jung, J., Pickering, R. P., et al., “Nonmedical Prescription Opioid Use and Dsm-5 Nonmedical Prescription Opioid Use Disorder in the United States,” Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 77, no. 6 (2016): 772-780.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Florence, C. S., Zhou, C., Luo, F., and Xu, L., “The Economic Burden of Prescription Opioid Overdose, Abuse, and Dependence in the United States, 2013,” Medical Care 54, no. 10 (2016): 901-906; White House Council of Economic Advisors, “The Underestimated Cost of the Opioid Crisis,” November 2017, available at <https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/white-house.gov/files/images/The%20Underestimated%20Cost%20of%20the%20Opioid%20Crisis.pdf> (last visited November 20, 2019).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kertesz, S. G. and Gordon, A. J., “A Crisis of Opioids and the Limits of Prescription Control: United States,” Addiction 114, no. 1 (2019): 169-180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, D. W., “History of the Joint Commission's Pain Standards: Lessons for Today's Prescription Opioid Epidemic,” JAMA 317, no. 11 (2017): 1117-1118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (2013).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supra note 2Google Scholar
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, “Results from the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Detailed Tables,” 2015, available at <https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/results-2014-national-survey-drug-use-and-health-detailed-tables> (last visited April 8, 2020).+(last+visited+April+8,+2020).>Google Scholar
Case, A. and Deaton, A., “Mortality and Morbidity in the 21st Century,” Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (2017): 397476.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paulozzi, L. J., Jones, C. M., Mack, K. A., and Rudd, R. A., “Vital Signs: Overdoses of Prescription Opioid Pain Relievers — United States, 1999-2008,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 60, no. 43 (2011): 1487-1192.Google Scholar
United States Drug Enforcement Agency, “National Heroin Threat Assessment Summary — Updated,” DEA Intelligence Report (2016), available at <https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2018-07/hq062716_attach.pdf> (last visited November 20, 2019).+(last+visited+November+20,+2019).>Google Scholar
Bohnert, A. S. B., Guy, G. P. Jr., and Losby, J. L., “Opioid Prescribing in the United States before and after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2016 Opioid Guideline,” Annals of Internal Medicine 169, no. 6 (2018): 367-375; Dowell, D., Haegerich, T.M., and Chou, R., “CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain — United States, 2016,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 65, no. 1 (March 15, 2016): 1-49, at 23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supra note 13, page 24.Google Scholar
Kroenke, K., Alford, D. P., Argoff, C., Canlas, B., Covington, E., Frank, J. W., Haake, K. J., et al., “Challenges with Implementing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Opioid Guideline: A Consensus Panel Report,” Pain Medicine 20, no. 4 (2019): 724-735. Dowell, D., Haegerich, T., and Chou, R., “No Shortcuts to Safer Opioid Prescribing,” New England Journal of Medicine 380, no. 24 (2019): 2285-2287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, Press Release, Colorado Medicaid to Further Tighten Opioid Policies (October 31, 2018), available at <https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/hcpf/news/colorado-medicaid-further-tighten-opioid-policies> (last visited April 8, 2020).+(last+visited+April+8,+2020).>Google Scholar
National Committee for Quality Assurance, “NCQA Updates Quality Measures for Hedis 2018,” (2017), available at <https://www.ncqa.org/news/ncqa-updates-quality-measures-for-hedis-2018> (last visted April 8, 2020).+(last+visted+April+8,+2020).>Google Scholar
Supra note 5, page 172.Google Scholar
Supra note 13.Google Scholar
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “U.S. Opioid Prescribing Rate Maps,” available at <https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/maps/rxrate-maps.html> (last visited April 8, 2020).+(last+visited+April+8,+2020).>Google Scholar
Zhu, W., Chernew, M. E., Sherry, T. B., and Maestas, N., “Initial Opioid Prescriptions among U.S. Commercially Insured Patients, 2012–2017,” New Engand Journal of Medicine 380, no. 11 (2019): 1043-1052.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guy, G. P. Jr., Zhang, K., Bohm, M. K., Losby, J., Lewis, B., Young, R., Murphy, L. B., and Dowell, D., “Vital Signs: Changes in Opioid Prescribing in the United States, 2006-2015,” MMWR Morbidity Mortality Weekly Report 66, no. 26 (2017): 697-704.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sun, E. C. and Jena, A. B., “Distribution of Prescription Opioid Use among Privately Insured Adults without Cancer: United States, 2001 to 2013,” Annals of Internal Medicine 167, no. 9 (2017): 684-686.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kertesz, S. G. and Gordon, A. J., Editorial, “Strict Limits on Opioid Prescribing Risk the ‘Inhumane Treatment’ of Pain Patients,” STATNews, February 24, 2017, available at <https://www.statnews.com/2017/02/24/opioids-prescribing-limits-pain-patients> (last visited April 8, 2020).+(last+visited+April+8,+2020).>Google Scholar
Kertesz, S. G., Editorial, “As a Physician, I Urge Caution as We Cut Back Opioids,” The Hill, March 28, 2017, available at <https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/healthcare/326095-as-a-physician-i-urge-other-doctors-to-cut-back-on-prescribing> (last visited April 8, 2020).+(last+visited+April+8,+2020).>Google Scholar
Llorente, E., “As Doctors Taper or End Opioid Prescriptions, Many Patients Driven to Despair, Suicide,” Fox News, December 10, 2018, available at <https://www.foxnews.com/health/as-opioids-become-taboo-doctors-taper-down-or-abandon-pain-patients-driving-many-to-suicide> (last visited April 8, 2020).+(last+visited+April+8,+2020).>Google Scholar
Darnall, B. D., Juurlink, D., Kerns, R. D., Mackey, S., Van Dorsten, B., Humphreys, K., Gonzalez-Sotomayor, J. A., et al., “International Stakeholder Community of Pain Experts and Leaders Call for an Urgent Action on Forced Opioid Tapering,” Pain Medicine Journal 20, no. 3 (2018): 429433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Human Rights Watch, “Not Allowed to Be Compassionate” Chronic Pain, the Overdose Crisis, and Unintended Harms in the US (2018), available at <https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/hhr1218_web.pdf> (last visited April 8, 2020).+(last+visited+April+8,+2020).>Google Scholar
Supra note 15.Google Scholar
Dowell, D., Haegerich, T., and Chou, R., “No Shortcuts to Safer Opioid Prescribing,” New England Journal of Medicine 380, no. 24 (June 13, 2019): 2285-2287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manhapra, A., Arias, A. J., and Ballantyne, J. C., “The Conundrum of Opioid Tapering in Long-Term Opioid Therapy for Chronic Pain: A Commentary,” Substance Abuse 39, no. 2 (2017): 1-10.Google Scholar
Meske, D.S., Lawal, O. D., Elder, H., Langberg, V., Paillard, F., and Katz, N., “Efficacy of Opioids Versus Placebo in Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Enriched Enrollment Randomized Withdrawal Trials,” Journal of Pain Research 11 (2018): 923-934.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Busse, J. W., Wang, L., Kamaleldin, M., Craigie, S., Riva, J. J., Montoya, L., Mulla, S. M., et al., “Opioids for Chronic Noncancer Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” JAMA 320, no. 23 (2018): 2448-2460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krebs, E. E., Gravely, A., Nugent, S., Jensen, A. C., DeRonne, B., Goldsmith, E. S., Kroenke, K., Bair, M. J., and Noorbaloochi, S., “Effect of Opioid Vs Nonopioid Medications on Pain-Related Function in Patients with Chronic Back Pain or Hip or Knee Osteoarthritis Pain: The Space Randomized Clinical Trial,” JAMA 319, no. 9 (2018): 872-882.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheatle, M.D., Gallagher, R. M., and O'Brien, C. P., “Low Risk of Producing an Opioid Use Disorder in Primary Care by Prescribing Opioids to Prescreened Patients with Chronic Non-cancer Pain,” Pain Medicine 19, no. 4 (2018): 764-773.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solomon, R. L., “The Opponent-Process Theory of Acquired Motivation: The Costs of Pleasure and the Benefits of Pain,” American Psychologist 35, no. 8 (1980): 691-712.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ballantyne, J. C., Sullivan, M. D., and Kolodny, A., “Opioid Dependence Vs Addiction: A Distinction without a Difference?” Archives of Internal Medicine 172, no. 17 (2012): 1342-1343.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supra note 32.Google Scholar
Supra note 35.Google Scholar
Skelly, A. C., Chou, R., Dettori, J. R., Turner, J. A., Friedly, J. L., Rundell, S. D., Fu, R., et al., “Noninvasive Nonpharmacological Treatment for Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review,” Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Publication No. 18-EHC013-EF (2018): ixx.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chang, D. G. and Kertesz, S. G., “Yoga and Low Back Pain: No Fool's Tool,” Annals of Internal Medicine 167, no. 2 (2017): 129-130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, Opioids in Medicare Part D: Concerns About Extreme Use and Questionable Prescribing, OEI-02-17-00250 (July 2017).Google Scholar
Supra note 17.Google Scholar
Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, VA/DOD Clinical Practice Guideline: Management of Opioid Therapy for Chronic Pain Version 2.0, (May 2010).Google Scholar
Dunn, K. M., Saunders, K. W., Rutter, C. M., Banta-Green, C. J., Merrill, J. O., Sullivan, M. D., Weisner, C. M., et al., “Opioid Prescriptions for Chronic Pain and Overdose: A Cohort Study,” Annals of Internal Medicine 152, no. 2 (2010): 85-92; Gomes, T., Mamdani, M. M., Dhalla, I. A., Paterson, J. M., and Juurlink, D. N., “Opioid Dose and Drug-Related Mortality in Patients with Nonmalignant Pain,” Archives of Internal Medicine 171, no. 7 (2011): 6866-91; Bohnert, A. S. B., Valenstein, M., Bair, M. J., Ganoczy, D., McCarthy, J. F., Ilgen, M. A., and Blow, F. C., “Association between Opioid Prescribing Patterns and Opioid Overdose-Related Deaths,” JAMA 305, no. 13 (2011): 1315-1321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frank, J. W., Lovejoy, T. I., Becker, W. C., Morasco, B. J., Koenig, C. J., Hoffecker, L., Dischinger, H. R., Dobscha, S. K., and Krebs, E. E., “Patient Outcomes in Dose Reduction or Discontinuation of Long-Term Opioid Therapy: A Systematic Review,” Annals of Internal Medicine 167, no. 3 (2017): 181-191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mazereeuw, G., Sullivan, M. D., and Juurlink, D. N., “Depression in Chronic Pain: Might Opioids Be Responsible?” PAIN 159, no. 11 (2018): 2142-2145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiese, A. D., Griffin, M. R., Schaffner, W., Stein, C. M., Greevy, R. A., Mitchel, E. F. Jr., and Grijalva, C. G., “Opioid Analgesic Use and Risk for Invasive Pneumococcal Diseases: A Nested Case-Control Study,” Annals of Internal Medicine 168, no. 6 (2018): 396-404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supra, note 47.Google Scholar
Bohnert, A. S., Logan, J. E., Ganoczy, D., and Dowell, D., “A Detailed Exploration into the Association of Prescribed Opioid Dosage and Overdose Deaths among Patients with Chronic Pain,” Medical Care 54, no. 5 (2016): 435-441.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fulton-Kehoe, D., Sullivan, M. D., Turner, J. A., Garg, R. K., Bauer, A. M., Wickizer, T. M., and Franklin, G. M., “Opioid Poisonings in Washington State Medicaid: Trends, Dosing, and Guidelines,” Medical Care 53, no. 8 (2015): 679-685.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henry, S.G., Wilsey, B. L., Melnikow, J., and Iosif, A.-M., “Dose Escalation During the First Year of Long-Term Opioid Therapy for Chronic Pain,” Pain Medicine 16, no. 4 (2015): 733-744; Zedler, B., Xie, L., Wang, L., Joyce, A., Vick, C., Kariburyo, F., Rajan, P., Baser, O., and Murrelle, L., “Risk Factors for Serious Prescription Opioid-Related Toxicity or Overdose among Veterans Health Administration Patients,” Pain Medicine 15, no. 11 (2014): 1911-1929; Oliva, E. M., Bowe, T., Tavakoli, S., Martins, S., Lewis, E. T., Paik, M., , I. Wiechers, et al., “Development and Applications of the Veterans Health Administration's Stratification Tool for Opioid Risk Mitigation (Storm) to Improve Opioid Safety and Prevent Overdose and Suicide,” Psychological Services 14, no. 1 (2017): 34-49; Glanz, J. M., Narwaney, K. J., Mueller, S. R., Gardner, E. M., Calcaterra, S. L., Xu, S., Breslin, K., and Binswanger, I. A., “Prediction Model for Two-Year Risk of Opioid Overdose among Patients Prescribed Chronic Opioid Therapy,” Journal of General Internal Medicine 33, no. 10 (2018): 1646-1653.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Darke, S., “Heroin Overdose,” Addiction 111 (2016): 2060-2063.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dowell, D., Noonan, R. K., and Houry, D., “Underlying Factors in Drug Overdose Deaths,” JAMA 318, no. 23 (2017): 2295-2296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mark, T.L. and Parish, W., “Opioid Medication Discontinuation and Risk of Adverse Opioid-Related Health Care Events,” Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment 103 (2019): 58-63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
James, J. R., Scott, J. M., Klein, J. W., Jackson, S., McKinney, C., Novack, M., Chew, L., and Merrill, J. O., “Mortality after Discontinuation of Primary Care–Based Chronic Opioid Therapy for Pain: A Retrospective Cohort Study,” Journal of General Internal Medicine 34, no. 12 (2019): 2749-2755.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perez, H.R., Buonora, H. R., M., Cunningham, C. O., Heo, M., and Starrels, J. L., “Opioid Taper Is Associated with Subsequent Termination of Care: A Retrospective Cohort Study,” Journal of General Internal Medicine 35, no. 1 (2020): 36-42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glanz, J. M., Binswanger, I. A., Shetterly, S. M., Narwaney, K. J., and Xu, S., “Association between Opioid Dose Variability and Opioid Overdose among Adults Prescribed Long-Term Opioid Therapy,” JAMA Network Open 2, no. 4 (2019): e192613.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fenton, J. J., Agnoli, A. L., Xing, G., Hang, L., Altan, A. E., Tancredi, D. J., Jerant, A., and Magnan, E., “Trends and Rapidity of Dose Tapering among Patients Prescribed Long-Term Opioid Therapy, 2008-2017,” JAMA Network Open 2, no. 11 (2019): e1916271-e71.Google Scholar
Oliva, E. M., Bowe, T., Manhapra, A., Kertesz, S., Hah, J. M., Henderson, P., Robinson, A., et al., “Associations Between Stopping Prescriptions for Opioids, Length of Opioid Treatment, and Overdose or Suicide deaths in US Veterans: Observational Evaluation,” BMJ 368, no. 283 (2020).Google Scholar
Lagisetty, P.A., Healy, N., Garpestad, C., Jannausch, M., Tipirneni, R., and Bohnert, A. S. B., “Access to Primary Care Clinics for Patients with Chronic Pain Receiving Opioids,” JAMA Network Open 2, no. 7 (2019): e196928.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manhapra, et al., supra note 32.Google Scholar
Weiss, R. D., Potter, J. S., Fiellin, D. A., Byrne, M., Connery, H. S., Dickinson, W., Gardin, J., et al, “Adjunctive Counseling During Brief and Extended Buprenorphine-Naloxone Treatment for Prescription Opioid Dependence: A 2-Phase Randomized Controlled Trial,” Archives of General Psychiatry 68, no. 12 (2011): 1238-1246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bentham, J. and Mill, J. Stuart, The Utilitarians: An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (Dolphin Book, C 265. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1961).Google Scholar
Kant, I. and Ellington, J. W., Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals (Indianapolis, Ind.: Hackett Pub. Co., 1981).Google Scholar
Tilburt, J. C., “Addressing Dual Agency: Getting Specific About the Expectations of Professionalism,” American Journal of Bio-ethics 14, no. 9 (2014): 29-36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar