Response to Oleribe

Abstract

We would like to thank Dr Oleribe for their interest in the study, “Predicting Persistent Opioid Use, Abuse, and Toxicity Among Cancer Survivors”. In the critical appraisal, the author concludes that there is an increased rate of persistent opioid use among Black veterans because the proportion of veterans with persistent opioid use who were Black was higher than the proportion of African American veterans on a census bureau report of veterans. While we appreciate the author’s investigation into potential racial disparities in adverse opioid outcomes, we do not agree with their methodology and do not believe the data supports their conclusion.