Opioid Analgesics: Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) and the New FDA Blueprint

Physicians across many specialties manage acute and chronic pain in their patients on a daily basis. However, gaps in pain care for many physicians exist due to time limitations and lack of training in pain management.

With the many issues related to pharmacologic therapies for pain (i.e. misuse and noncompliance, addiction, adverse effects, tolerance, and polypharmacy), physicians are duly concerned. It is challenging for physicians to stay current with emerging evidence on abuse-deterrent formulations of opioid medications. Clinicians may feel uncomfortable communicating with patients about the issue of misuse and may not be prepared to make use of the prescription-drug-monitoring programs available to assist in identifying opioid misuse.

Presenting clinicians with a thorough review of the FDA’s “Opioid Analgesic REMS Education Blueprint for Health Care Providers Involved in the Treatment and Monitoring of Patients with Pain” will allow them to provide evidence-based pain management to their patients on a daily basis. The activity will also provide tools to help clinicians mitigate issues associated with opioid therapies, i.e. misuse and addiction, and take steps to avert the opioid addiction crisis.