Opioid users have a significantly increased risk of infections severe enough to require treatment at the hospital, such as pneumonia and meningitis, as compared to people who don’t use opioids.

Kristin Archer, PhD, DPT, associate professor and vice chair of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, will serve as principal investigator at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) for a clinical trial that is examining strategies for reducing opioid use among patients with chronic pain.

Renewal House and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) have launched an alliance that will expedite treatment and expand the community’s capacity to treat mothers and children most acutely affected by opioid addiction in the mid-state.

Stephen W. Patrick, M.D., MPH, MS, has been chosen to receive the Nemours Child Health Services Research Award, recognizing his work surrounding neonatal abstinence syndrome, a drug withdrawal syndrome experienced by infants exposed to opioids while in utero.

Most women who undergo a cesarean childbirth are prescribed more opioid (narcotic) pain medications than needed upon release from the hospital, a Vanderbilt University Medical Center study shows.

Complications related to opioid abuse occur in 54,000 pregnancies annually in the United States, and Tennessee ranks among the top 10 states in the number of opioid-dependent pregnant women.