Automatic Stop Orders for Opioids

Automatic stop orders may reduce or have no significant effect on opioid-based prescriptions at the institutional level. We did not find any evidence regarding a range of clinical outcomes (e.g., rates of opioid dependence, misuse, and diversion; reduction in opioid dependence, health-related quality of life, and adverse events) associated with automatic stop orders. We did not find any evidence-based guidelines regarding the use of automatic stop orders for opioid prescriptions. Given the limited number and observational, nonrandomized design of the included studies, as well as the absence of any evidence-based guidelines regarding the use of automatic stop orders for opioid prescriptions, it was difficult to draw any firm conclusions about the clinical effectiveness of automatic stop orders for opioid prescriptions in the Canadian context.