Codeine

There is no increased risk for COVID-19 infection or all-cause mortality among patients with osteoarthritis in primary care who receive NSAIDs, compared with other analgesics, according to data published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

Codeine is an opioid alkaloid naturally found in opium poppy resin, along with morphine and more than 20 distinct alkaloid chemicals. The opium poppy has been known for more than 2,000 years to have beneficial effects upon the human body, and its use is referenced in ancient writings dating back several thousand years. Codeine has been used medicinally for more than a century. Pediatric health care practitioners trained years ago likely were taught to prescribe codeine, especially acetaminophen plus codeine products, for many uses, namely for cough or mild-to-moderate pain. Post-tonsillectomy pain was a common indication for prescribing acetaminophen plus codeine. It is best, however, that these prescribing habits “die easy,” and not “die hard.”

The rate of postoperative opioid prescriptions filled was seven times higher in the United States and Canada than in Sweden, according to a study recently published in JAMA Network Open.