Opioids remain an essential component of pain management across surgical, procedural, and medical care. Yet alongside their benefits lies one of the most serious and potentially life-threatening risks: opioid-induced respiratory depression (OIRD). Despite decades of clinical use, OIRD continues to contribute to preventable patient harm across care settings.

A newly published peer-reviewed paper on OIRD, co-authored by a multidisciplinary group of clinicians and researchers — including Michael Wong, JD, Executive Director of the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS) — brings renewed attention to this critical patient safety challenge. The paper synthesizes current evidence on OIRD mechanisms, risk factors, and opportunities for improved prevention and response, reinforcing what many clinicians already recognize: respiratory depression is often predictable, frequently detectable, and too often recognized too late.

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