Safety - specific medication safety issues to highlight

Opioid use is receiving increasing attention, with opioid deaths in Scotland and the USA a major cause of public concern:

• Media coverage may raise specific concern about drugs which are in everyday use, such as fentanyl
• Individuals prescribed opioid medication should understand that many of these deaths are associated with unregulated products (with potentially very high doses of drug) and illicit drug use – and should understand their own situation in context
• National Records of Scotland shows that there were 1,017 deaths due to problematic drug use in Scotland in 2024¹⁰⁸ Of these deaths, medication implicated included:
  • opiates/opioids (such as heroin/morphine and methadone): 810 deaths (80%)
  • benzodiazepines (such as diazepam and bromazolam): 574 deaths (56%)
  • gabapentin and/or pregabalin – 374 deaths (37%)

Generally:

• Potentially fatal interactions between medicines that cause CNS depression, particularly opioids, gabapentinoids and benzodiazepines