Mayo Clinic’s new book offers solutions for opioid addiction

In “Ending the Crisis: Mayo Clinic’s Guide to Opioid Addiction and Safe Opioid Use,” addiction medicine specialist Dr. Holly Geyer goes beyond the science of addiction to offer those struggling with opioids a real solution.

Dr. Geyer, from Mayo Clinic Internal Medicine, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss more about this book and this important topic.

“As patients, we’re going to receive these drugs at some point in our lifetime for pain management,” Dr. Geyer said. “There’s a good reason to use them, but we differentiate when and why.”

Dr. Geyer emphasized that this topic is a national crisis, with opioids being the number one cause of death in adults under the age of 25.

“It’s a mess out there,” Dr. Geyer said, “One person every five minutes out there is dying from this drug class.”

Dr. Geyer stated that while the best way to reduce this issue is to get rid of the drug, she emphasized the drug serves a purpose. Opioids are the most reliable medication doctors prescribe for moderate to severe pain control “when we use it in the right patient, at the right dose, for the right length of treatment,” Dr. Geyer said. “They’re medical cures; we need them; we just need to do it safely.”

The American Medical Association estimates between 3 to 19% of people who ever touch this drug class will develop long-term dependency.

“Short-term prescriptions can still have consequences,” Dr. Geyer said. “This is why we say, ‘Use it when needed, only as a breakthrough in very specific circumstances, under a prescriber.'”

Key topics in the book include:

• Managing pain and using prescribed opioids safely
• Understanding addiction and opioid use disorder
• The intervention: A play-by-play example
• Treatment programs: Help taking the first step
• Helping loved ones recover from opioid use disorder
• Opioid overdose: How you can save a life