JAPMA Publishes First Installment of Series on Opioids in Podiatry

The latest issue of JAPMA is the first of three installments dedicated to the opioid crisis. This first issue focuses on opioid problems within the profession. The next issue will focus on opioid solutions, and the third will present opioid prescribing pearls.

Articles from Brandon Brooks, DPM, MPH, and Robert Smith, DPM, MSc, RPh, FNAP, highlight prescribing practices of podiatrists, including a look at cognitive bias in postoperative opioid prescribing practices, the diabetic foot-pain-depression cycle, and opioid treatment agreements.

In discussing the new DEA MATE training list, Dr. Brooks notes that because DPMs have been excluded from the list of approved CME providers, he “hopes that these opioid editions in JAPMA can highlight our profession’s opioid research (which includes several novel concepts and solutions to the current opioid crisis) in order to demonstrate that we are here to help resolve this public health crisis and worthy of inclusion.”

Dr. Smith notes that “These two topics have not been explored fully within the context of our profession. … Both opioid use treatment agreements and dosing opioid analgesics overshadowed by substance use disorder are paramount to preventing opioid harm.”