Strategies to Reduce Risk of Abuse

"Current voluntary strategies to reduce opioid abuse include
"• the clinician’s assessment in a history and physical exam that includes psychosocial factors, family history, and risk of abuse;
"• the clinician’s regular monitoring of the progress of patients on opioids and assessment for aberrant behavior that may indicate abuse;
"• random urine drug screening and pill counts for patients at risk;
"• state prescription drug monitoring programs (the U.S. Justice Department and other agencies have cooperated in forming an interstate information exchange for such programs);
"• new drug formulations intended to prevent abuse by (1) hindering the extraction of active ingredients through physical barrier mechanisms, (2) releasing agents that neutralize the opioid effects when products are tampered with, and (3) introducing substances that cause unpleasant side effects when drugs are consumed to excess (Fishbain et al., 2010); and
"• removing unused drugs from home medicine cabinets and disposing of them at 'drug take-back' events (see Box 2-4 in Chapter 2) (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2010)."