Pharma could have ‘immense influence’ in combatting the opioid crisis, says expert

Prescription opioid addiction and abuse is a public health emergency​ in the US, with approximately 130 deaths recorded daily between 2016 and 2017 from opioid-related drug overdoses.

This North American-based issue is now “heading over here” ​to Europe, according to Gabrielle Silver, general manager of LloydsPharmacy Clinical Homecare in the UK, and lead independent director of Opiant Pharmaceuticals in California.

“One of the reasons why there is such a high level of opioid addiction [in the US] is because physicians in their training are not taught in the same way [as in the UK],” ​said Silver at Pharma Integrates, in London, yesterday.

In the US, “very different sorts of levels of motivations” ​influence physicians, driven by the consumer push, a need to differentiate between brands, and a pressure to retain patient populations, explained Silver.

These factors can lead to the early prescription of opioid-based painkillers, she added: “The early use of opioid drugs in standard care is the reason why there is a huge opioid crisis.”​

‘Pharma can do more’​

According to Silver, both industry and academia can work to promote change, by asking the question: “How can we instil again, with absolute focus and clarity, the teaching that says ‘This is not the way to manage pain, there are multiple ways to manage pain’?”​

Could investing in specific pain physicians be a solution?, she asked delegates.

“Pharma can think differently…We have to understand that unless we invest now, we are going to go in that [North American] direction,” ​she added.  “Pharma has immense influence and I know that they can do so much to try and push things forward.”​

“I’ve got nothing but respect for what pharma can achieve and have achieved, but they can do more. It’s up to them to move beyond this [traditional] transactional relationship.”​