Prescribing Opioids: Universal Education on Opioid Use, Storage, and Disposal

Purpose of Review This article highlights the challenges in opioid prescribing and provides guidance on patient education for opioid safety, storage, and disposal as well as recommendations for cautious prescribing for a patient with cancer. Recent Findings Amid the opioid crises, multiple groups have reported that there is a gap in knowledge among patients and prescriber on proper opioid use, storage, and disposal that contributes to unsafe opioid practices. Summary Opioids are important in the treatment of pain in majority of patients with advanced cancer. Clinicians managing cancer-related pain have faced significant challenges in safely prescribing opioids in the time of an opioid epidemic and mounting evidence of non-medical opioid use in this patient population.