TY - JOUR
KW - Analgesics, Opioid
KW - Clinical Assessment Tool
KW - Diagnosing Prescription Opioid Addiction
KW - ethics
KW - Federal Regulation
KW - Humans
KW - Opioid-Related Disorders/prevention & control
KW - Prescription Drug Diversion/ethics/legislation & jurisprudence/statistics & numerical data
KW - Prescription Drug Misuse/legislation & jurisprudence/statistics & numerical data
KW - Prescription Opioid Monitoring
KW - Substance-Related Disorders/diagnosis
KW - Surveys and Questionnaires
KW - United States
KW - United States Food and Drug Administration
AU - E. C. Meltzer
AU - W. D. Hall
AU - J. J. Fins
A1 - 
AB - BACKGROUND: Clinicians who prescribe chronic opioid therapy are concerned about identifying patients who are at-risk for misusing, abusing, or diverting (i.e. selling) their pain medications. Experts have specifically recommended using clinical assessment tools as part of a comprehensive plan for mitigating opioid-related risks. These tools are typically short, standardized questionnaires that screen for the presence or absence of putatively aberrant medication-related behaviors thought to be predictive of addiction. Interestingly, these tools remain wholly unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or other authorities. OBJECTIVE: This paper reviews how these instruments are used and the normative assumptions informing their use, fully appreciating that these screening tools do not have the power to diagnose illness or an addiction disorder. CONCLUSION: We conclude that these clinical assessment tools should be regulated because, as we will argue, any screening tool that can assess patients for the potential for opioid-related aberrant behaviors are powerful instruments that merit additional scrutiny and oversight--perhaps by the FDA and other regulatory agencies.
BT - Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.)
C5 - Opioids & Substance Use
CP - 7
CY - England
DO - 10.1111/pme.12099
IS - 7
JF - Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.)
N2 - BACKGROUND: Clinicians who prescribe chronic opioid therapy are concerned about identifying patients who are at-risk for misusing, abusing, or diverting (i.e. selling) their pain medications. Experts have specifically recommended using clinical assessment tools as part of a comprehensive plan for mitigating opioid-related risks. These tools are typically short, standardized questionnaires that screen for the presence or absence of putatively aberrant medication-related behaviors thought to be predictive of addiction. Interestingly, these tools remain wholly unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or other authorities. OBJECTIVE: This paper reviews how these instruments are used and the normative assumptions informing their use, fully appreciating that these screening tools do not have the power to diagnose illness or an addiction disorder. CONCLUSION: We conclude that these clinical assessment tools should be regulated because, as we will argue, any screening tool that can assess patients for the potential for opioid-related aberrant behaviors are powerful instruments that merit additional scrutiny and oversight--perhaps by the FDA and other regulatory agencies.
PP - England
PY - 2013
SN - 1526-4637; 1526-2375
SP - 982
EP - 987
EP - 
T1 - Error and bias in the evaluation of prescription opioid misuse: should the FDA regulate clinical assessment tools?
T2 - Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.)
TI - Error and bias in the evaluation of prescription opioid misuse: should the FDA regulate clinical assessment tools?
U1 - Opioids & Substance Use
U2 - 23594383
U3 - 10.1111/pme.12099
VL - 14
VO - 1526-4637; 1526-2375
Y1 - 2013
ER -