Tools & Resources
for Your Patients

Opioid Information for Patients

Patient education can be a key component in helping prevent and manage opioid misuse and addiction.

By providing patients with information about opioids and opioid misuse, encouraging them to ask questions, and sharing tips on safe disposal, you can empower patients to make healthy decisions and help keep them safe.

Understanding Opioids and the Risks of Use

A guide about opioids, preventing addiction, and signs of opioid use disorder.
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Conversation Starters for Patients

Questions to ask your doctor about the benefits and risks of prescription opioids.
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What to Know About Prescribed Opioids for Teens & Young Adults

Risks and safety precautions parents should know when opioids are prescribed for a child, and what to ask their doctor.
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Opioids and Co-Occurring Disorders

Information about the link between substance use and mental health disorders.
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Treating Opioid Addiction

This guide explains the options and benefits of medications for opioid use disorder.
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Safely Removing Opioids From the Home

Information on how to keep families and their communities safe by disposing of unused or expired prescription opioids in the home.
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Medication Safety and Substance Use Support

Patients and families can receive customized information about prescription opioid safety and substance use.
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*Funding for this initiative was made possible (in part) by grant no. 1H79TI085588 from SAMHSA. It was originally funded by the FDA of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of financial assistance award U18FD004593. The views expressed on this website do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the HHS; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the FDA/HHS or the U.S. Government.

References

Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm Drug Overdose Deaths in the United States, 1999–2020. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db428.htm
Vowles KE, McEntee ML, Julnes PS, Frohe T, Ney JP, van der Goes DN. Rates of opioid misuse, abuse, and addiction in chronic pain: a systematic review and data synthesis. Pain. 2015;156(4):569-576.
Guideline Recommendations and Guiding Principles. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/hcp/clinical-guidance/recommendations-and-principles.html
Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/hcp/clinical-guidance/prescription-drug-monitoring-programs.html
PDMP policies and practices. Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Training and Technical Assistance Center website. Accessed August 6, 2021. https://www.pdmpassist.org/Policies
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/reports/rpt42731/2022-nsduh-nnr.pdf
Jones CM. Heroin use and heroin use risk behaviors among nonmedical users of prescription opioid pain relievers—United States, 2002-2004 and 2008-2010. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2013;132(1-2):95-100.
Opioid Overdose Death Rates and All Drug Overdose Death Rates per 100,000 Population (Age-Adjusted). KFF. https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/opioid-overdose-death-rates/?
Opioid Dispensing Rate Maps. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/data-research/facts-stats/opioid-dispensing-rate-maps.html?

Tools & Resources for Your Patients

Opioid Information for Patients

Tools & Resources
for Your Patients