Hospice: Another sad sector of the opioid crisis

A person addicted to drugs might do anything to get their hands on the next dose. Whether that means 'borrowing' painkillers from a relative who had their wisdom teeth extracted, breaking into cars to grab small bills and coins, or stealing their mother's jewelry --all things I've seen myself-- there are no real limits. So I was saddened but not surprised to read Dying At Home In An Opioid Crisis: Hospices Grapple With Stolen Meds, which highlights the trouble dying patients face in keeping hold of their painkillers.The Kaiser Health News examples are only anecdotal, but the combination of high quantities of opioids and homebound patients unable to fend for themselves is an ideal setting for diversion. The problem is two-fold: theft of drugs while the patient is alive, and diversion once the patient passes away. Since many patients die within days or weeks of beginning hospice, the second problem is a major one.The examples offered in the article are heartbreaking:

• In Mobile, Ala., a hospice nurse found a man at home in tears, holding his abdomen, complaining of pain at the top of a 10-point scale. The patient was dying of cancer, and his neighbors were stealing his opioid painkillers, day after day.

• In Monroe, Mich., parents kept “losing” medications for a child dying at home of brain cancer, including a bottle of the painkiller methadone.

• In Clinton, Mo., a woman at home on hospice began vomiting from anxiety from a tense family conflict: Her son had to physically fight off her daughter, who was stealing her medications. Her son implored the hospice to move his mom to a nursing home to escape the situation.

Some hospices are trying to do something about the problem, but it's not easy. After all, their primary goal is to ease the pain of dying patients. It's not really their job to keep track of and control everyone else. Some of the ideas being tried include:

• Screening families for a history of drug addiction
• Limiting the amount of meds delivered at any one time
• Drafting agreements with families about consequences for drugs that disappear
• Encouraging the destruction and disposal of drugs after the patient dies

None of these approaches is likely to succeed on its own. The country will have to address the broader opioid crisis in order to bring this part of it under control. However, there are a couple additional steps that could be taken now:

• A few states let hospice employees destroy drugs once a patient dies. That should be expanded nationwide and made mandatory. There is no conflict here with the patient's needs
• Some patients, who would otherwise be eligible for home hospice, should be moved to facilities such as nursing homes, where controls can be tighter. (Much as I hate to argue against home care this needs to be part of the discussion)

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By healthcare business consultant David E. Williams, president of Health Business Group.