Opioid prescribing in the UK: can we avert a public health disaster?

Ballantyne J Mao J . Opioid therapy for chronic pain. N Engl J Med 2003; 349: 1943–1953.

Von Korff M Deyo R . Potent opioids for chronic musculoskeletal pain: flying blind? Pain 2004; 109: 207–209.

Franklin GM Mai J Wickizer T . Opioid dosing trends and mortality in Washington State workers’ compensation, 1996–2002. Am J Ind Med 2005; 48(2): 91–99.

Manchikanti L Singh A . Therapeutic opioids: A ten-year perspective on the complexities and complications of the escalating use, abuse, and nonmedical use of opioids. Pain Physician 2008; 11: S63–S88.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Results from the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings (Office of Applied Studies, NSDUH Series H-36, DHHS Publication No. SMA 09-4434). Rockville, MD, 2009.

Manchikanti L Fellows B Ailinani H . Therapeutic use, abuse, and nonmedical use of opioids: a ten-year perspective. Pain Physician 2010; 13: 401–443.

Dunn KM Saunders KW Rutter CM . Opioid prescriptions for chronic pain and overdose. Ann Intern Med 2010; 152(2): 85–92.

Braden JB Russo J Fan MY . Emergency department visits among recipients of chronic opioid therapy. Arch Intern Med 2010; 170(16): 1425–1432.

Saunders KW Dunn KM Merrill JO . Relationship of opioid use and dosage levels to fractures in older chronic pain patients. J Gen Intern Med 2010; 25(4): 310–315.

Bohnert AS Valenstein M Bair MJ . Association between opioid prescribing patterns and opioid overdose-related deaths. JAMA 2011; 305: 1315–1321.

NHS Information Centre. www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/primary-care/prescriptions (accessed January 2010).

Dhalla IA Persaud N Juurlink DN . Facing up to the prescription opioid crisis. BMJ 2011; 343: d5142.

Spence D . The painful truth: deaths and misuse of prescribed drugs. BMJ 2011; 343: d7403.

Brown AM . Huge rise in prescriptions for strongest pain killers. Daily Telegraph, 22 February 2010.

Laurance J . ‘Disaster’ looms over addiction to painkillers. Independent, 25 August 2011.

Laurance J . Addiction fears prompt tighter monitoring of painkillers. Independent, 11 November 2011.

All Party Parliamentary Drug Misuse Group. An inquiry into physical dependence and addiction to prescription and over-the-counter medicines, 2007–8 Parliamentary Session.

National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse. Addiction to medicine 2011, www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/addictiontomedicinesmay2011a.pdf (accessed January 2012).

Office for National Statistics. Deaths related to drug poisoning in England and Wales, 2010, www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/subnational-health3/deaths-related-to-drug-poisoning/2010/stb-deaths-related-to-drug-poisoning-2010.html (accessed January 2012).