Phillip Coffin
pcoffin.bsky.social
Phillip Coffin
@pcoffin.bsky.social
Reposted by Phillip Coffin
Dr Coffin published a commentary in Addiction this week noting that high and variable opioid potency has a dynamic impact on overdose risk, limiting the impact of our traditional overdose prevention strategies.

Check out the full publication here:
Commentary on Stam et al.: The substantial and dynamic contribution of opioid potency to total overdose risk
Click on the article title to read more.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 19, 2024 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by Phillip Coffin
CSUH conducted a highly innovative study to better understand deaths attributed to stimulants. Lots more to come!
Identification of Behavioral, Clinical, and Psychological Antecedents of Acute Stimulant Poisoning: Development and Implementation of a Mixed Methods Psychological Autopsy Study - PubMed
In developing and implementing PA research on fatal stimulant poisoning, we noted the importance of recruitment language regarding cause of death and condolences with collateral informants. Compassion...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
January 21, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Reposted by Phillip Coffin
During the pandemic, doctors tried microdosing buprenorphine to help fentanyl users avoid withdrawal and start treatment. A UC San Francisco study found this low-dose approach worked only 34% of the time, with most patients unable to reach a full dose despite gradual increases over several days.
Outpatient Low-Dose Initiation of Buprenorphine for People Using Fentanyl
This cohort study assesses rates of successful buprenorphine initiation and retention among adults who use fentanyl receiving a low-dose buprenorphine initiation protocol in the outpatient setting to ...
jamanetwork.com
January 27, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Reposted by Phillip Coffin
CSUH collaborated with Boston Medical Center to demonstrate the reliability of self-reported substance use data over a 4-month lookback period!
Test-Retest Reliability of a Timeline Follow-back Method to Assess Opioid Use and Treatment - PubMed
The adapted TLFB had very high reliability for self-reported opioid and MOUD use over 120 days. For less frequent outcomes, including overdose, a higher frequency or larger sample size is needed to as...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
February 8, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Reposted by Phillip Coffin
Study of 600 opioid patients: Stimulant use didn’t boost emergencies or deaths, yet those positive were nearly three times as likely to have treatment stopped. Researchers urge discussing substance use rather than automatically halting opioids.
Stimulant use and opioid-related harm in patients on long-term opioids for chronic pain - PubMed
Despite no association between a stimulant-positive UDT and subsequent opioid-related harm, there was an association with subsequent LTOT discontinuation, with heterogeneity across clinical groups. De...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
February 26, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by Phillip Coffin
New CSUH paper published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence:

Many stimulant-only drug deaths are witnessed and often linked to heart issues, unlike opioid cases. Analyzing medical examiner records helps uncover patterns and improve prevention efforts.
Thematic analysis of medical examiner narratives to understand the socio-spatial context, recency of drug use, and likely mechanism of stimulant toxicity deaths
Drug toxicity as a cause of death is challenging to establish and may be based on limited evidence, especially in deaths attributed to stimulants. We …
www.sciencedirect.com
May 6, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Reposted by Phillip Coffin
In this commentary, Dr Coffin clarifies the role of naloxone in reversing overdose, and notes that more is not necessarily better.
Everything in moderation, even naloxone
Click on the article title to read more.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
May 21, 2025 at 4:49 PM