Researchers studying improving physician opioid prescribing

Boston University School of Medicine researcher Dr. Jeffrey Samet and Dr. Carlos Del Rio from Emory University were recently awarded a five year, $5 million grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse for their project titled: Improving Physician Opioid Prescribing for Chronic Pain in HIV-infected Persons.

Prescription opioids are the second most commonly abused substances in the U.S. (after marijuana), and overdose deaths related to prescription opioids now exceed deaths from motor vehicle crashes. Prescription opioid abuse appears to be even more common among HIV-infected patients, presumably a consequence of the known co-morbidity between HIV and substance use.

The grant will fund the "Targeting Effective Analgesia in Clinics for HIV" (TEACH) Study. TEACH will test the effectiveness of a collaborative care intervention to improve the management of chronic opioid therapy and reduce the misuse of prescription opioids among HIV-infected persons.

"This is a novel randomized controlled trial of a chronic disease management intervention to improve the delivery of chronic opioid therapy and reduce prescription opioid misuse among HIV-infected persons. If demonstrated to be effective, this model could be adopted by clinics nationwide, may improve physician satisfaction and confidence with this challenging aspect of patient care, and has the potential to improve the health and well-being of persons with HIV," explained Samet, principal investigator of the grant.

The study will be conducted within Boston Medical Center's HIV clinic (CID) with Dr. Meg Sullivan, as a co-investigator.

Provided by Boston University Medical Center