APhA unveils new opioid resource center

The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) announced this week that it has unveiled a new resource center in its continuing fight against prescription drug and opioid abuse that will provide pharmacists with more information pertaining to opioid use, abuse and misuse.

The resource center will offer learning opportunities, clinical and patient resources, and identifying tools for pharmacists to utilize when they work with patients who have had opioids prescribed to them.

Opioid dependency has swelled to affect more than 5 million Americans, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reports. There were 47,000 deaths that resulted because of drug overdose in 2014 and nearly 29,000 of those were opioid related. Drug overdoses are the leader in accidental deaths in the United States, but the APhA maintains that there are still patients who have a genuine need for opioid based medications and use them properly.

The resource center will provide training and webinars, guidelines and resources for decision making, networking opportunities, interactive tools and publications, resources relating to opioids on both state and federal levels, and a section that displays articles and research on prescription drug abuse.