A Brief Educational Intervention to Increase ED Initiation of Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD).

Background: Despite the evidence in support of the use of buprenorphine in the treatment of OUD and increasing ability of emergency medicine (EM) clinicians to prescribe it, emergency department (ED)-initiated buprenorphine is uncommon. Many EM clinicians lack training on how to manage acute opioid withdrawal or initiate treatment with buprenorphine. We developed a brief buprenorphine training program and assessed the impact of the training on subsequent buprenorphine initiation and knowledge retention.

A Case Report of a Novel Harm Reduction Intervention Used to Detect Opioid Overdose in the Emergency Department.

Introduction: As over 130 people die daily from opioid overdose in the United States, harm reduction strategies have become increasingly important. Because public restrooms are a common site for opioid overdose, emergency department waiting room restrooms (EDWRR) should be considered especially high-risk areas.

Case Report: We present the case of a patient found after a presumed opioid overdose in our EDWRR.

Recurrent respiratory depression associated with fentanyl transdermal patch gel reservoir ingestion.

Background: Opioid abuse is common in the United States and is currently on the rise. Fentanyl transdermal patches (FTPs) have been on the market since 1991, and have recently become a popular source of opioids for abusers. There are currently two distinct FTP designs available on the market today; a gel reservoir system and a matrix construct.

Overdose of propafenone surreptitiously sold as "Percocet".

Background: Drug abuse is a common problem in the United States. Drugs can be acquired in many ways, and can be knowingly or mistakenly misrepresented when sold. Propafenone is an uncommonly encountered class IC antidysrhythmic that is a look-alike for the opioid, oxycodone/acetaminophen 5/325.

Oxcarbazepine-induced Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms (DRESS).

This is an image and brief case report of a 13-year-old boy who presented with severe rash and systemic symptoms after starting oxcarbazepine. The patient was diagnosed and treated for Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms (DRESS), a syndrome of fever, rash, and internal organ involvement secondary to medication administration. The image illustrates the rash seen with this drug reaction.