Michael Weiner, M.D., MPH, explains when to prescribe opioids as a treatment for chronic cough.
Transcript:
There is absolutely a role of opioid-containing cough suppressants in the treatment of cough, because in many cases those drugs may be the most effective drugs for treating chronic cough, and they may be the only drug that is effective in some patients. So our message isn’t that we should stop prescribing these drugs, but that we really need to understand them in more detail to know when they’re the best choice and whether there might be better choices in some patients. There are newer drugs that are being developed and that have come to market for the treatment of chronic cough. And so some of the newer generations of drugs may become more preferred or more effective.
Dr. Weiner mentions that incurable diseases can cause long-lasting conditions.
Transcript:
When we see prescriptions of drugs, especially repeating prescriptions over an extended period of time, it tells us that whatever problem is being treated probably isn’t going away. This isn’t a problem that’s being cured. In fact, the causes of chronic cough are usually not curable conditions or diseases. They’re diseases that continue to cause symptoms and sometimes more severe complications for many patients. So one of the findings from this study is actually reinforcing that the conditions that are causing the problem that is being treated are very significant and long-lasting conditions.
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