• Rogal S, Youk A, Agbalajobi O, Zhang H, Gellad W, Fine MJ, Belperio P, Morgan T, Good CB, Kraemer K. Medication Treatment of Active Opioid Use Disorder in Veterans With Cirrhosis. The American journal of gastroenterology. 2021 Mar 30.
• Benintendi A, Kosakowski S, Lagisetty P, Larochelle M, Bohnert ASB, Bazzi AR. "I felt like I had a scarlet letter": Recurring experiences of structural stigma surrounding opioid tapers among patients with chronic, non-cancer pain. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 2021 Mar 18; 108664.
• Hubbard CC, Evans CT, Calip GS, Rowan SA, Gellad WF, Campbell A, Gross AE, Hershow RC, McGregor JC, Sharp LK, Suda KJ. Characteristics Associated With Opioid and Antibiotic Prescribing by Dentists. American journal of preventive medicine. 2021 Mar 18.
• Lo-Ciganic WH, Donohue JM, Hulsey EG, Barnes S, Li Y, Kuza CC, Yang Q, Buchanich J, Huang JL, Mair C, Wilson DL, Gellad WF. Integrating human services and criminal justice data with claims data to predict risk of opioid overdose among Medicaid beneficiaries: A machine-learning approach. PLoS ONE. 2021 Mar 18; 16(3):e0248360.
• Balbale SN, Cao L, Trivedi I, Stulberg JJ, Suda KJ, Gellad WF, Evans CT, Lambert BL, Keefer LA, Jordan N. Characteristics of Opioid Prescriptions to Veterans With Chronic Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Disorders Dually Enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs and Medicare Part D. Military medicine. 2021 Mar 10.

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• Medication Therapy for Opioid Use Disorder Saves Lives and Can Save Money for Society
  Investigators in this study developed a mathematical model to assess the cost-effectiveness of opioid use disorder treatments and the association of these treatments with outcomes in the US. Two analyses were done, the first considering only health sector costs, and the second also considering criminal justice costs. Findings showed that medication-assisted treatment (MAT), with or without overdos...
  
  Date: March 31, 2021
• Research Suggests Battlefield Acupuncture is Immediate but Short-Term Pain Management Tool
  This commentary summarizes work conducted to examine battlefield acupuncture’s (BFA’s) implementation and effectiveness within the VA healthcare system. Findings show that there is some evidence that BFA is a potentially effective, immediate, but short-term pain management tool that can be used in adjunct with other pain therapies. BFA produced a minimal clinically important improvement in pain fo...
  
  Date: March 26, 2021
• JGIM Supplement Features VA Research on Improving Opioid Safety among Veterans with Chronic Pain and Addiction
  In the fall of 2019, HSR&D convened a state-of-the-art (SOTA) conference – “Effective Management of Pain and Addiction: Strategies to Improve Opioid Safety” – to develop research priorities for advancing the science and clinical practice of opioid safety, including both the use of opioid analgesics and managing opioid use disorder (OUD). A group of researchers and VA clinical stakeholders defined ...
  
  Date: December 1, 2020
• Cannabinoid Use Increased while Opioid Use Decreased among VA Patients Undergoing Total Joint Replacement
  This single-institution (VA Palo Alto) study sought to determine whether preoperative cannabinoid use and opioid use increased or decreased over a 6-year interval among total hip and knee arthroplasty (THA and TKA) patients – and whether complications were associated with cannabinoid use. Findings showed that use of cannabinoids in Veterans undergoing total joint arthroplasty was far greater than ...
  
  Date: October 1, 2020
• Treatment Disparities for Vulnerable VA Patient Populations with Opioid Use Disorder
  This study examined the association between vulnerable populations, facility characteristics, and receipt of medications for opioid use disorder (OUD). Findings showed that since the last national study of VA patients (using FY2012 data), the prevalence of receipt of medications for OUD increased overall from 33% to 41%; however, vulnerable patient populations – including women, older, Black, rura...
  
  Date: August 18, 2020

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• Effects of VA Opioid Policy on Prescribing and Patient Outcomes || In Progress

  Effects of VA Opioid Policy on Prescribing and Patient Outcomes...Prescription Opioid Use among Veterans » Table of Contents Effects of VHA Opioid Policy...Patient-Centered Outcomes Ongoing Study Opioid analgesics are the most commonly prescribed

• Evidence Brief: Benefits and Harms of Long-term Opioid Dose Reduction or Discontinuation in Patients with Chronic Pain - Supplementary Materials

  Brief: Benefits and Harms of Long-term Opioid Dose Reduction or Discontinuation in...Brief: Benefits and Harms of Long-term Opioid Dose Reduction or Discontinuation in...Brief: Benefits and Harms of Long-term Opioid Dose Reduction or Discontinuation in

• Improving Opioid Safety || In Progress

  In 2013, VA launched the Opioid Safety Initiative (OSI), the first of several...system-wide initiatives to address opioid overuse. As a result, by mid-2016 the...This Issue: Improving Opioid Safety Overview: National Opioid Crisis Ongoing HSR&D...HSR&D Studies Effects of VHA Opioid Policy on Prescribing and Patient Outcomes

• Improving Opioid Safety || In Progress

  In 2013, VA launched the Opioid Safety Initiative (OSI), the first of several...system-wide initiatives to address opioid overuse. As a result, by mid-2016 the...This Issue: Improving Opioid Safety Overview: National Opioid Crisis Ongoing HSR&D...HSR&D Studies Effects of VHA Opioid Policy on Prescribing and Patient Outcomes

• Overview: National Opioid Crisis || In Progress

  In 2013, VA launched the Opioid Safety Initiative (OSI), the first of several...system-wide initiatives to address opioid overuse. As a result, by mid-2016 the...Issue: Improving Opioid Safety » Table of Contents National Opioid Crisis Overview...Overview The misuse of and addiction to opioids (i.e., prescription pain relievers

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Other Resources

• Learn more about VA HSR&D’s State of the Art conferences on opioid safety and non-pharmacological approaches to chronic musculoskeletal pain management.
• Learn more about the Quality Enhancement Research Initiative’s IMPROVE project, which focuses on integrating pain support in primary care in order to decrease the number of Veterans using opioid therapy for pain management.
• Visit the VA Office of Research & Development’s Substance Use Disorders (SUD) topic page for information about milestones in SUD research across all VA research services.