Prescribing the right amount of opioid tablets to help ease severe pain after surgery can be a challenge. Patients—and their symptoms—can vary widely. While doctors are prescribing fewer opioids to lessen the threat of dependence, they still prescribe more pills than patients need, and those extra painkillers can lead to misuse and harm.
LDI Senior Fellow and CHIBE affiliate Anish Agarwal and colleagues recently tested an inexpensive solution: a disposal kit that encourages patients to dispose of the opioid painkillers they didn’t use. The kits help patients disable pills by mixing them with water and a powdered polymer gel, which then can be thrown safely in the trash.