A group of researchers at Boston Medical Center recently looked at nearly 3,000 patients who had survived an opioid-related overdose between 2000 and 2012. According to their recently published study, over 90% of these patients continued to receive opioid medications from doctors — even after their overdose. Given the soaring numbers of opioid-related overdose deaths and heightened scrutiny on how these medications are being over-prescribed, the study findings are alarming and disturbing.
The researchers identified almost 3,000 patients nationwide who had had a nonfatal overdose while being treated with opioid medications for chronic pain. These patients were followed for 300 days, on average, after their overdose. During those 300 days, an additional 7% of the patients overdosed a secon…