Oxycodon -- eine erklärungsbedürftige Karriere.

Background: Oxycodone entered the market in Germany in 1998 as an oral opioid analgesic, after it had been withdrawn from the market in 1990. Today it is the most prescribed oralWorld Health Organization (WHO) level 3 opioid, although its analgesic effect is no different from that of other opioid analgesics. In 2017, it was prescribed more often than ibuprofen in Germany. Objectives: What is the explanation for this rise? Methods: Scoping literature review, evaluation of pharmaceutical statistics and guidelines, discussion of recommendations. Results: The rise of oxycodone prescriptions is not due to its pharmacological or medicinal properties. The causes of its frequent prescription are the marketing efforts of a pharmaceutical company. Medical sources of information have been influenced or changed on a large scale. Conclusions: The rise in the popularity of prescribing oxycodone was possible because physicians have paid too little attention to the quality of sources providing pharmacological information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]