In recent years, most overdose deaths have involved illicit fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, as well as cocaine and methamphetamines. Appropriate studies performed to date have not demonstrated geriatric-specific problems that would limit the usefulness of oxycodone in the elderly. However, elderly patients are more likely to have age-related liver, kidney, heart, or lung problems, which may require caution and an adjustment in the dose for how addictive is oxycontin patients receiving oxycodone in order to avoid potentially serious side effects.

Drug Summary

• If you are taking the extended-release tablets, swallow the tablets one at a time with plenty of water.
• Misuse means taking a medicine in a way other than how it was prescribed.
• However, it is important to only use opioids for their intended uses and only as a healthcare professional has directed.
• Fentanyl overdose deaths began rising in 2013, marking the beginning of what the CDC calls the third wave of the opioid epidemic.
• In the early 2000s, Portugal decriminalized all drugs in response to consistently having the highest fatal overdose rates in Western Europe.
• In the years that followed, attacks on the 12-hour claim largely dropped from the agenda of Purdue’s critics.

Advise patients to seek medical attention if they experience a constellation of these symptoms see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS. To reduce the risk of respiratory depression, proper dosing and titration of OXYCONTIN are essential see DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION. It is safer to underestimate a patient’s 24-hour oral oxycodone requirements and provide rescue medication (e.g., immediate-release opioid) than to overestimate the 24-hour oral oxycodone dosage and manage an adverse reaction due to an overdose.

5 Initial Dosage in Pediatric Patients 11 Years and Older

Because of the potential for serious adverse reactions, including excess sedation and respiratory depression in a breastfed infant, advise patients that breastfeeding is not recommended during treatment with OXYCONTIN. It is important to ensure ongoing care of the patient and to agree on an appropriate tapering schedule and follow-up plan so that patient and Substance abuse provider goals and expectations are clear and realistic. When opioid analgesics are being discontinued due to a suspected substance use disorder, evaluate and treat the patient, or refer for evaluation and treatment of the substance use disorder. Treatment should include evidence-based approaches, such as medication assisted treatment of opioid use disorder. Complex patients with comorbid pain and substance use disorders may benefit from referral to a specialist.

• Too few patients less than 11 years were enrolled in the clinical trial to provide meaningful safety data in this age group.
• View our editorial content guidelines to learn how we create helpful content with integrity and compassion.
• OxyContin can cause various side effects, some of which may be serious.
• It’s also extremely important to speak with your physician about any other drugs or substances you might regularly use, to ensure they won’t increase the risk of an oxycodone overdose death.
• If a patient is suspected to be experiencing OIH, carefully consider appropriately decreasing the dose of the current opioid analgesic or opioid rotation (safely switching the patient to a different opioid moiety).

Specific Populations

Learn more about the top causes of death in the US, how much money the government spends to combat opioids, and get the data directly in your inbox by subscribing to our weekly newsletter. Together, these two age groups accounted for over half of all fentanyl deaths. Black Americans represented 13.7% of the US population but 22.6% of fentanyl deaths. It is important to note that this article uses provisional 2024 data that’s subject to change. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that drug poisoning deaths may have a longer lag in reporting, making it likely that the provisional data is an undercount. By filling out this contact form, you agree to opt into communications from The Recovery Village.

• Monitor for respiratory depression, especially during initiation of OXYCONTIN or following a dose increase.
• Inform patients that they can visit /drugdisposal for a complete list of medicines recommended for disposal by flushing, as well as additional information on disposal of unused medicines.
• When subjected to an aqueous environment, OXYCONTIN gradually forms a viscous hydrogel (i.e., a gelatinous mass) that resists passage through a needle.
• Not surprisingly, studies show that prescription patterns of opioids from 1999 to 2008 were directly linked to a surge in overdose deaths.
• To reduce the risk of respiratory depression, proper dosing and titration of OXYCONTIN are essential see DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION.

Health Care Providers

Tell your health care provider right away if you have any of the following symptoms of low blood pressure. Call your healthcare provider if the dose you are taking does not control your pain. Monitor infants exposed to OXYCONTIN through breast milk for excess sedation and respiratory depression. Withdrawal symptoms can occur in breast-fed infants when maternal administration of an opioid analgesic is stopped, or when breast-feeding is stopped. In a study of reproductive performance, rats were administered a once daily gavage dose of the vehicle or oxycodone hydrochloride (0.5, 2, and 8 mg/kg/day).