Dr. Zhu is a pyschiatrist in San Pedro, California and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and Keck Hospital of USC. He received his medical degree from Shanghai Medical Universitty and has been in practice for more than 20 years.
Presentation Title:
"The Epidemic of Opiates Use and Misuse"
Purpose:
In 2017, more than 47,000 Americans died as a result of an opioid overdose, including prescription opioids, heroin, and illicitly manufactured fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid. This issue has become a public health crisis with devastating consequences including increases in opioid misuse and related overdoses. Adults living with depression, anxiety and mood disorders receive 51 percent of all opioid prescriptions, despite representing only 16 percent of the nation’s overall population. To combat the growing national opioid epidemic, it is critical that we begin to rethink pain management among this group. In response to the opioid crisis, this lecture will be discovering new and better ways to prevent opioid misuse, treat opioid use disorders, and manage pain.
Objectives:
- Summarize tools available for screening patients
- Describe the opioid safety initiative and website
- Describe prescription practices for opioids
- Describe non-opioid approaches to pain management
- Summarize the relationship between pain and suicide
- Prescribe naloxone for patients on chronic opioids
- Perform trials of tapering opioids when clinically indicated
- Implement CDC guidelines with attention to areas of difficulty