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How to Use Methadone in an Era of an Opioid Epidemic

  • Palliative and Supportive Care (MP Davis, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Treatment Options in Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Opinion statement

The opioid epidemic is one of the most important public health crises as opioid-related deaths have become a leading cause of accidental death in the USA. Various efforts have been made to understand how to safely and appropriately prescribe opioids for patients with chronic pain, including those with cancer-related pain. We find the guidelines proposed by the Expert Consensus White Paper on the use of methadone to be current, comprehensive, and practical. While methadone is a complex medication with unique pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, it remains a superior choice for many patients with cancer pain given its cost and applicability in a variety of situations. Methadone should be prescribed in the context of experienced clinicians as well as an interdisciplinary team. At a critical time when preventing opioid-related deaths is a priority, we recommend implementing additional precautions for monitoring including universal screening for risk of non-medical opioid use, education on proper storage and disposal, as well as discussing a plan with patients and caregivers in the case of serious complications such as opioid overdose.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Palliative Care, Rehabilitation, and Integrative Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd, Unit 1414, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    Yvonne Heung MD & Akhila Reddy MD

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  1. Yvonne Heung MD
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Correspondence to Akhila Reddy MD.

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Yvonne Heung declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Akhila Reddy declares that she has no conflict of interest.

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Heung, Y., Reddy, A. How to Use Methadone in an Era of an Opioid Epidemic. Curr. Treat. Options in Oncol. 21, 30 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11864-020-0724-4

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