Prescribing Opioids: Universal Education on Opioid Use, Storage, and Disposal

Purpose of Review: This article highlights the challenges in opioid prescribing and provides guidance on patient education for opioid safety, storage, and disposal as well as recommendations for cautious prescribing for a patient with cancer. Recent Findings: Amid the opioid crises, multiple groups have reported that there is a gap in knowledge among patients and prescriber on proper opioid use, storage, and disposal that contributes to unsafe opioid practices. Summary: Opioids are important in the treatment of pain in majority of patients with advanced cancer. Clinicians managing cancer-related pain have faced significant challenges in safely prescribing opioids in the time of an opioid epidemic and mounting evidence of non-medical opioid use in this patient population.