Shifts in opioid dosages associated with higher overdose risk

Patients on long-term opioid therapy who experienced the largest shifts in their doses faced a three times higher risk of overdose compared to patients who had little to no variability in their doses, according to a new study. But the researchers also found that patients whose opioid therapy was safely stopped had a lower likelihood of overdose than patients who stayed on opioids. The researchers said that clinicians should take into account the findings of their study — which looked at thousands of patients on long-term opioids — as they try to ease patients off opioids.