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Deaths related to opioid overdose have risen sharply during the past decade. To examine the relation between maximum prescribed opioid dose and opioid overdose–related death, researchers used Veterans Health Administration data from 2004 through 2008 in a case-cohort analysis of patients with cancer, chronic or acute pain, or substance abuse disorders. A total of 750 decedents with unintentional opioid overdose were compared with >150,000 patients who received opioid therapy.
Overall frequency of fatal overdose was 0.04%. Compared with all opioid users, patients who died after overdose were more likely to be white and middle-aged, more likely to have chronic pain or substance disorders, and less likely to have cancer.
In analyses adjusted for…