A Facility-Wide Plan to Increase Access to Medication for Opioid Use Disorder in Primary Care and General Mental Health Settings.

Background: The opioid epidemic in the United States has generated a pressing need to enhance access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD). This program description illustrates a quality-improvement effort to extend MOUD to primary care and general mental health clinics within the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Connecticut Healthcare system (VACHS), and to examine barriers and facilitators to implementation of MOUD in target clinics.

Observations: As part of the national VA Stepped Care for Opioid Use Disorder Train the Trainer (SCOUTT) initiative to improve MOUD access, a VACHS team identified and resolved barriers to MOUD in target clinics.

Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol: Separating the chemicals from the "weed," a pharmacodynamic discussion.

Cannabis is being increasingly used as a medical treatment for a variety of illnesses. However, the cannabis plant has more than 70 different phytocannabinoids with potential pharmacologic activity. Two of the most researched phytocannabinoids are delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD).

Adverse drug reactions in hospitalized psychiatric patients.

Background: Reducing adverse drug reactions (ADRs) is a critical element in providing safe medication use to hospitalized patients. There is an abundance of literature describing ADRs and preventable ADRs (pADRs) in hospitalized patients; however, little has been published specific to psychiatric inpatients. Further knowledge of the most common pADRs in hospitalized psychiatric patients will allow targeted patient safety initiatives to be developed.

Efficacy of add-on topiramate therapy in psychiatric patients with weight gain.

Background: Weight gain is a common adverse effect of many psychotropic medications including antipsychotics, antidepressants, and mood stabilizers. There is a growing body of evidence that topiramate may be useful as an add-on therapy to induce weight loss in patients who have experienced psychotropic-induced weight gain.

Objective: To determine the efficacy and tolerability of topiramate for treatment of weight gain in a naturalistic mental health clinic setting.