Bohnert appointed to NAM Veterans opioid committee

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAM) has appointed Amy Bohnert, Ph.D., M.H.S., professor of anesthesiology, as a member of a committee to study and evaluate the effects of opioids and benzodiazepines on all-cause mortality of veterans, including suicide.

Because of active duty and combat-related injuries, among other potential predisposing factors, the VA population has higher rates of chronic pain, traumatic brain injury, posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, substance use disorder, and accompanying mental health problems than civilians. Those often co-occurring conditions increase the risk for suicidal ideation and suicide.  Veterans may be prescribed opioids (for pain) and benzodiazepines (for anxiety or insomnia).

The ad hoc committee will quantify the effects of opioid and benzodiazepine prescribing on the risk of death among veterans who received care from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) between 2007 and 2019. 

The committee will focus on (a) the effect of opioid prescribing for pain, relative to alternative non-opioid pain treatments, (b) the effects of higher doses relative to lower doses of opioids, (c) the effect of co-prescribing a benzodiazepine among patients already receiving opioids, relative to alternative treatments for anxiety and other indications for benzodiazepines, and (d) the effect of initiating opioids among patients already taking benzodiazepines.

Announcement adapted from NAM