MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Brian J. Piper, PhD, MS
Assistant Professor of Neuroscience
Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Fentanyl is an important opioid for pain management but also has exceptional potential for misuse. Illicitly manufactured fentanyl accounts for a large portion of opioid overdoses. Seven states including Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont have recently implemented opioid prescribing laws. The objectives of this study were to:
- 1) characterize how medical use of fentanyl, fentanyl analogues like sufentanil, alfentanil, and remifentanil, and other opioid use changed over the past decade, and
- 2) determine whether opioid prescribing laws impacted fentanyl use in the US. The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Automation of Reports and Consolidated Ordering System (ARCOS) is the gold-standard for pharmacoepidemiology research of controlled substances in the US for its comprehensiveness.