opioids

Pregnant woman holding pill pack
June 9, 2020

Opioid prescriptions after childbirth linked to increased risk of overdose, persistent use

Women who are prescribed opioids after childbirth have an increased risk of persistent opioid use or other serious opioid-related events, including overdose, in their first year postpartum, according to a new study by Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers. This is true regardless of whether the woman had a vaginal delivery or a cesarean section.

By Kelsey Herbers
May 18, 2020

Women in criminal justice system less likely to receive evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorder

Pregnant women involved in the criminal justice system are disproportionately not receiving medications for opioid use disorder, as compared to their peers, according to a Vanderbilt-led study published today in PLOS Medicine.

By Jake Lowary
May 12, 2020

Study finds newborn opioid withdrawal rates show evidence of stabilizing

Rates of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) have plateaued after 20 years of increasing frequency across the country, according to a new study published in Health Affairs. NAS is a withdrawal syndrome experienced by some opioid-exposed newborns after birth.

By VUMC News and Communications
April 22, 2020

Safeguarding opioids a concern as children may have more access with families at home due to COVID-19

A new poll from the Vanderbilt Center for Child Health Policy found that few Tennessee parents take steps to safeguard opioids at home, an important concern when children are spending more time indoors due to COVID-19 social distancing recommendations.

By Jake Lowary
Image of pain pills (iStock Photo)
February 24, 2020

Reducing postoperative opioids

An opioid-restrictive prescribing protocol reduced the number of postoperative opioid prescriptions and the oral morphine equivalent per prescription.

By Leigh MacMillan
December 20, 2019

Tennessee Receives Grant from Federal Government to Address Opioid Crisis

The Division of TennCare will partner with VUMC as part of the MOM program focusing on 26 rural and urban counties to improve the outcomes for women with opioid use disorder and their infants.

By Holly Fletcher
December 12, 2019

New training materials help clinicians stay opioid compliant

Vanderbilt University Medical Center, through the offices of its Opioid Oversight Executive Committee, is offering its employees an online tutorial, Opioid Laws — Prescribing at VUMC
By Paul Govern
December 5, 2019

Multisite study focuses on opioid use during pregnancy

The Vanderbilt Maternal Addiction Recovery Program is participating in a 12-site clinical trial that will compare two forms of the medication buprenorphine in treating opioid use disorder during pregnancy, and the results could have a potentially significant impact on clinical practice.
By Kelsey Herbers
October 10, 2019

Project seeks to enhance opioid care for infants

The number of opioid-exposed infants who were connected, along with their families, to outside resources upon discharge from the hospital surged in a recent six-month pilot.
By Holly Fletcher
August 29, 2019

New tool helps predict patients’ opioid needs after cesarean section

Most women who undergo a cesarean section are sent home with more opioids than they need, but a significant proportion of women use all opioids and report unmet pain needs, according to Sarah Osmundson, MD, MS, assistant professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
By Kelsey Herbers
August 29, 2019

VUMC receives grant for opioid education training

The AAMC Opioid Education Challenge Grant Program has selected five institutions or partnering institutions to receive an award of up to $25,000 each for opioid education training.
By Craig Boerner
July 15, 2019

Parental substance use linked to increase in infants in foster care

The nation’s opioid crisis is a factor in the recent increase in the number of infants entering the nation’s foster care system, with at least half of all infant placements now a result of parental substance use.
By Holly Fletcher
July 1, 2019

Benzodiazepine use with opioids intensifies neonatal abstinence syndrome

Babies born after being exposed to both opioids and benzodiazepines before birth are more likely to have severe drug withdrawal, requiring medications like morphine for treatment, compared to infants exposed to opioids alone.
By Holly Fletcher
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