DS
Dipam Shah
  • biochemistry, cell, molecular biology
  • Class of 2017
  • Scranton, PA

Dipam Shah of Scranton, a first-year medical student at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, publishes paper in American Journal of Preventive Medicine

2018 Jan 16

Dipam Shah of Scranton, a first-year medical student at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, is co-author of a paper accepted for publication in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Authors also include Geisinger Commonwealth faculty members, Brian J. Piper, Ph.D., M.S., assistant professor of neuroscience, and Olapeju M. Simoyan, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of family medicine and epidemiology.

The article, "Trends in Medical Use of Opioids in the United States: 2006 - 2016," concluded that, "With the exception of buprenorphine (used to treat an opioid use disorder) prescription opioid use has been decreasing over the past five years in the U.S." The paper is the result of the researchers' analysis of data from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Automation of Reports and Consolidated Orders System (ARCOS) for 2006- 2016. Decrease in prescription opioid use is a significant trend because misuse of prescription drugs is frequently implicated in cases of addiction and overdose.