Opioids and other medications may result in adverse event or death

With opioid abuse in the USA now a major crisis and the use of certain non-opioids in combination with these drugs a major potential risk, Thomas W Frederickson, lead author of the Society of Hospital Medicine guide Reducing Adverse Drug Events Related to Opioids (RADEO), writes about reducing the risk of death and the related US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warnings in an Expert View piece.

It is described by some as ‘dead in bed’ syndrome. Respiratory arrest and death related to opioids has an incidence that is hard to measure, but the patient stories of near-misses sudden deaths following routine surgeries are real.

In a hospital setting, improper use of opioids can lead to dangerous sedation, respiratory depression, and death. The risks are compounded because opioids are the most prescribed class of medication in hospitals, leading it to be the second most common class of medication to cause adverse patient events. The good news is that, with the implementation of a rigorous quality improvement plan, patient harm from opioid-related respiratory depression can be preventable.