Buprenorphine after nonfatal opioid overdose reduces risk of overdose death

Receiving medication for opioid use disorders, such as buprenorphine after an overdose, leads to lower mortality risk, according to a Rutgers study.

Rutgers researchers found that opioid-involved overdose deaths following nonfatal overdose events are largely preventable with buprenorphine medication for opioid use disorder.

The medication, approved by the Food and Drug Administration, is a highly effective treatment for opioid use disorder that can be prescribed or dispensed in physician offices. However, fewer than one in 20 individuals studied received buprenorphine after experiencing a nonfatal opioid overdose, according to the study.

The study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, used national Medicare beneficiary data to identify adults with disabilities ages 18 to 64 years who received inpatient or emergency treatment for nonfatal opioid overdose from 2008 to 2016.

Researchers found that receiving buprenorphine after a nonfatal opioid overdose was associated with a 62 percent reduction in the risk of subsequent opioid overdose death. The findings highlight a need to initiate potentially lifesaving treatment following nonfatal opioid overdoses because these events are strong risk factors for repeat overdose and death.

Reference:

Buprenorphine After Nonfatal Opioid Overdose: Reduced Mortality Risk in Medicare Disability Beneficiaries,American Journal of Preventive Medicine,doi 10.1016/j.amepre.2023.01.037