Efforts working to curb long-term opioid use in military, study finds

Researchers have found “significant reductions” in the use of long-term prescriptions of opioids after surgery among patients in the Military Health System, according to a new report.

A study published Wednesday in the Lancet Regional Health journal found a 38% reduction in the risk of long-term prescription opioid use for patients receiving surgery in 2020-2022, compared to 2017-2019.

“This is a really positive story for the health care system,” Dr. Andrew Schoenfeld, who led the study, told Military Times. He is an orthopedic surgeon at Mass General Brigham and is a professor at Harvard Medical School.

And lessons learned from the Defense Department’s specific initiatives, such as the DOD/VA practice guidelines and other approaches related to opioid prescriptions, could potentially have a greater impact on the civilian sector, the authors noted.