what is mme

MME stands for Morphine Milligram Equivalents, which is a measurement used to determine how different opioids relate to each other. It is a tool for doctors to compare different drugs in a simplified, unified measurement, using morphine as the standard. MME is intended to help clinicians make safe, appropriate decisions concerning changes to opioid regimens. The MME/day metric is often used as a gauge of the overdose potential of the amount of opioid prescribed. Higher dosages of opioids are associated with a higher risk of overdose and death. Calculating the total daily dosage of opioids helps identify patients who may benefit from closer monitoring, reduction or tapering of opioids, co-prescribing of naloxone, or other measures to reduce the risk of overdose. MME dosages for opioids are separated into a few different categories, with lower dosages considered to be 20-50 MME a day, and 50 or greater considered to be a higher dose. There are MME calculators available to help healthcare providers determine the daily MME that a patient has been prescribed.