FDA recommends health care professionals discuss naloxone with all patients when prescribing opioid pain relievers or medicines to treat opioid use disorder | FDA

FDA recommends health care professionals discuss naloxone with all patients when prescribing opioid pain relievers or medicines to treat opioid use disorder | FDA

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS) wants to make you aware of a recent Drug Safety Communication from the Food & Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA announced it now requires labeling for opioid pain medicine and medicine to treat OUD be updated to recommend that as a routine part of prescribing these medicines, health care professionals should discuss the availability of the overdose reversal drug naloxone with patients and caregivers, both when beginning and renewing treatment. Additionally, the labeling changes recommend that health care professionals consider prescribing naloxone to patients who are prescribed opioid pain medicines and who are at increased risk of opioid overdose, including those who are also taking benzodiazepines or other medicines that depress the central nervous system; those who have a history of OUD; and those who have experienced a prior opioid overdose.  A naloxone prescription should also be considered for patients prescribed opioids who have household members, including children, or other close contacts at risk for accidental ingestion or opioid overdose. We encourage you to share this information with your members as soon as possible.