Opioid prescriptions in the emergency department linked to small increases in hospital admission and subsequent opioid prescription use

This trend may be driven by increases in heroin and synthetic opioids coinvolvement

Higher levels of smoking also tied to pain-related work limitations and worse self-reported health, mental health

Significant increase seen in prepandemic EMS encounters, followed by immediate, significant increase with pandemic interruption

Proportion of telehealth prescriptions climbed across medications

Clinicians and policymakers need a more accurate estimate of the prevalence of problematic opioid use, authors say

CYP2D6-inhibiting antidepressants linked to worse outcomes than CYP2D6-neutral antidepressants when used with CYP2D6-metabolizing opioids