Table.

Recommendations of the Pediatric Pharmacy Advocacy Group for Opioid Use in Children and Adolescents

Pharmacists should proactively engage licensed prescribers on the customized selection of opioids and other non-opioid alternatives.

Pharmacists should actively provide education on proper storage, disposal, and administration of prescription opioids to prevent misuse, overdose, or development of opioid use disorder.

Pharmacists should actively engage in education of patients, families, and local communities to increase public awareness of the dangers regarding opioid misuse.

Pharmacists should lead or actively participate in institutional efforts to implement opioid stewardship programs.

Pharmacists should advocate for universal use of electronic prescription drug–monitoring programs by prescribers and “real-time” data submission of opioids dispensed at pharmacies.

Pharmacists should participate in the distribution of naloxone to individuals and organizations that meet state-determined criteria through standing orders, protocol orders, collaborative practice agreements, or pharmacist prescriptive authority.

Pharmacists should actively endorse the American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement to improve access to evidence-based treatment for adolescents and young adults with opioid use disorder and advocate for an expanded role of the pharmacist in detoxification and office-based pharmacotherapy.