Professor Roger Knaggs quoted in the Pharmaceutical Journal

Courtesy of Roger Knaggs Roger Knaggs, associate professor in clinical pharmacy practice at the University of Nottingham and Royal Pharmaceutical Society spokesperson on pain, said that the UK and other European countries had seen an increase in opioid p

Professor Roger Knaggs was recently quoted in an article in the Pharmaceutical Journal, entitled

'Methadone and buprenorphine to be used to tackle US opioid crisis' 

The article stated that 'President Trump declared the US opioid crisis as a public health emergency'.

Roger Knaggs, associate professor in clinical pharmacy practice at the University of Nottingham and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society spokesperson on pain, said that while the UK and other European countries had seen an increase in opioid prescribing, unlike the United States they had not seen a similar rise in mortality associated with that prescription.

Roger said “There are a myriad of reasons for the differences in mortality between the US and Europe that have been proposed, including differences in the healthcare structure and funding, and provision of services for people with persistent pain”.

He also added “Methadone and buprenorphine have been used for a long time in the management of opioid addiction and there is already good access to these medicines through substance misuse services in the UK. However, they have a smaller role to play for patients who misuse prescription opioids and their use does require specialist knowledge and experience.”