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Journal of Pain & Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy Volume 35, 2021 - Issue 2
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Case Report

Spiritual Healing in a Hospice Veteran Led to a Successful Opioid Taper: A Case Report

Sandra L. DiScalaSandra L. DiScala, PharmD, BCPS, Brittany Faley, PharmD, Vanessa Lewis, MD, Christine M. Vartan, PharmD, BCPS, and Michael Silverman, MD, CMD are with the West Palm Beach (WPB) Veterans Affairs Medical Center, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA.Correspondence[email protected] [email protected]
ORCID Iconhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8264-2431
ORCID Icon,
Brittany FaleySandra L. DiScala, PharmD, BCPS, Brittany Faley, PharmD, Vanessa Lewis, MD, Christine M. Vartan, PharmD, BCPS, and Michael Silverman, MD, CMD are with the West Palm Beach (WPB) Veterans Affairs Medical Center, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA.
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Vanessa LewisSandra L. DiScala, PharmD, BCPS, Brittany Faley, PharmD, Vanessa Lewis, MD, Christine M. Vartan, PharmD, BCPS, and Michael Silverman, MD, CMD are with the West Palm Beach (WPB) Veterans Affairs Medical Center, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA.
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Christine M. VartanSandra L. DiScala, PharmD, BCPS, Brittany Faley, PharmD, Vanessa Lewis, MD, Christine M. Vartan, PharmD, BCPS, and Michael Silverman, MD, CMD are with the West Palm Beach (WPB) Veterans Affairs Medical Center, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA.
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Michael SilvermanSandra L. DiScala, PharmD, BCPS, Brittany Faley, PharmD, Vanessa Lewis, MD, Christine M. Vartan, PharmD, BCPS, and Michael Silverman, MD, CMD are with the West Palm Beach (WPB) Veterans Affairs Medical Center, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA.
Pages 117-122 | Received 04 Jan 2021, Accepted 02 Apr 2021, Published online: 06 May 2021
 
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Abstract

Addressing “total pain” is a concept commonly practiced in palliative care. Spiritual healing in a Navy Veteran led to a significant improvement in pain allowing a voluntary taper of opioid medication. The Veteran was able to reconcile his faith in God and participated in several spiritual practices daily. The palliative care pharmacist assisted the team in developing an opioid taper process per Veteran’s request as he had a strong conviction that he was spiritually healed. A reduction in opioid morphine equivalent daily doses (MEDD) were 87.5% without any symptoms from the clinical opioid withdrawal scale (COWS). The Veteran died peacefully during an opioid taper in hospice care.

Disclosure statement

The views expressed in this abstract reflect those of the authors and do not represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs or of the United States. This case report was presented in poster format at the AAHPM Annual Assembly in Boston, MA in March 2018. Written informed consent for publication of the patient details was obtained from the next of kin.

Funding

The authors received no financial support, nor did they receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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