Drug overdose, driven largely by overdose related to the use of opioids, is now the leading cause of unintentional injury death in the United States. The ongoing opioid crisis lies at the intersection of two public health challenges: reducing the burden of suffering from pain and containing the rising toll of the harms that can arise from the use of opioid medications. Chronic pain and opioid use disorder both represent complex human conditions affecting millions of Americans and causing untold disability and loss of function. In the context of the growing opioid problem, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched an Opioids Action Plan in early 2016. As part of this plan, the FDA asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to convene a committee to update the state of the science on pain research, care, and education and to identify actions the FDA and others can take to respond to the opioid epidemic, with a particular focus on informing FDA's development of a formal method for incorporating individual and societal considerations into its risk-benefit framework for opioid approval and monitoring.

Drug Diversion Prevention in Healthcare Kimberly New, BSN, JD Theft of controlled substances at hospitals has always been a problem of paramount importance, but even with increased security measures, it still occurs. Drug Diversion Prevention in Healthcare discusses the issue of drug diversion in detail and demonstrates the components of a solid prevention plan. Loaded with tools and checklists, this book is designed to help hospital security officials create awareness of the drug diversion problem. You will learn how to design a program to keep staff accountable for drug administrations, as well as audits that monitor drug distribution from delivery to patient administration. This resource will help you: Establish an effective drug diversion prevention plan among hospital staff Understand the fundamental issues of drug diversion Create awareness among staff using tools and checklists Learn to recognize suspected diverters and mitigate problem areas in your hospital Effectively confront and deal with diverters in your facility