Medscape October 1, 2024
Patients who leave the hospital against medical advice have a 10-fold higher risk for subsequent drug overdose in the following month, a new study indicates.
Overall, 1 in 30 patients with an early discharge — and 1 in 12 patients with opioid use disorder who left early — experienced an overdose within 30 days of leaving the hospital.
“In the last 20 years, I’ve provided care for many patients who ultimately decided to leave hospital before their inpatient medical care was complete. I worry about these patients,” senior author John Staples, MD, a clinical associate professor in internal medicine at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, told Medscape Medical News.
“Often, they have ongoing medical problems —...
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