OPIOID-INDUCED RESPIRATORY depression (OIRD) is a serious public health and patient
safety concern. In 2010, drug overdose was the leading cause of injury death in the United
States (32), with 75% of these deaths involving opioid analgesics (2, 10). The problem is not
limited to outpatients: severe respiratory depression and death occur even in hospitals using
closedloop administration devices [patient controlled analgesia (PCA)] and continuous
pulse oximetry (13, 18). This phenomenon has drawn the attention of the Joint Commission …

… Commentaries on Viewpoint: Why do some patients stop breathing after taking narcotics?
Ventilatory chemosensitivity as a predictor of opioid-induced respiratory depression …
Commentaries on Viewpoint: Why do some patients stop breathing after taking narcotics? …