Fentanyl News and Research

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Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opiate analgesic similar to but more potent than morphine. It is typically used to treat patients with severe pain, or to manage pain after surgery. It is also sometimes used to treat people with chronic pain who are physically tolerant to opiates. It is a schedule II prescription drug.

Single dose long lasting opioid antidote on the horizon

Recent reports have shown a 1,000 percent rise in opioid abuse (especially synthetic drug Fentanyl) in the United States over the past one decade. In 2017 for example there have been 47,000 deaths attributed to opioid overdose says the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

31 Mar 2019

UTSA professor helps train first responders to detect prescription opioid overdoses

James Bray, professor and chair of the UTSA Department of Psychology, is working on a research project with agencies in Houston to train first responders in how to detect prescription opioid overdoses and provide life-saving outreach services.

20 Mar 2019

US opioid prescriptions drop by a half but it’s not all good news

The number of opioid prescriptions issued each month in the US dropped to less than a half. However, experts remain concerned about the number of high-risk prescriptions.

15 Mar 2019

Blunting emotional component associated with pain

Chronic pain involves more than just hurting. People suffering from pain often experience sadness, depression and lethargy. That's one reason opioids can be so addictive -- they not only dampen the pain but also make people feel euphoric.

13 Mar 2019

Many heroin users are not prepared to prevent or treat fentanyl-related overdoses, study finds

Most heroin users in Baltimore, a city heavily affected by the opioid epidemic, recognize that the heroin they buy is now almost always laced with the highly dangerous synthetic opioid fentanyl, according to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

6 Mar 2019

More states say doctors must offer overdose reversal drug along with opioids

In a growing number of states, patients who get opioids for serious pain may leave their doctors' offices with a second prescription — for naloxone, a drug that can save their lives if they overdose on the powerful painkillers.

21 Feb 2019

The United States records highest drug overdose death rates

In the most comprehensive international comparison of its kind, a USC study found that the United States has the highest drug overdose death rates among a set of high-income countries.

21 Feb 2019

Discharged, dismissed: ERs often miss chance to set overdose survivors on ‘better path’

The last time heroin landed Marissa Angerer in a Midland, Texas, emergency room — naked and unconscious — was May 2016. But that wasn't her first drug-related interaction with the health system.

15 Feb 2019

Changing nature of opioid epidemic could be responsible for increase in overdose deaths

The opioid epidemic in the United States could be responsible for 700,000 overdose deaths between 2016 and 2025, according to a new study published today in JAMA Network Open.

8 Feb 2019

What ‘dope sick’ really feels like

Detoxing off heroin or opioids without medication is sheer hell. I should know. For many users, full-blown withdrawal is often foreshadowed by a yawn, or perhaps a runny nose, a sore back, sensitive skin or a restless leg. For me, the telltale sign that the heroin was wearing off was a slight tingling sensation when I urinated.

8 Feb 2019

Rutgers study uncovers new threat in the opiate epidemic

A Rutgers study has uncovered a new threat in the opiate epidemic: Overdoses of loperamide, an over-the-counter diarrhea medication, have been steadily increasing in number and severity nationwide over five years.

4 Feb 2019

Lawsuit details how the Sackler family allegedly built an Oxycontin fortune

The first nine months of 2013 started off as a banner year for the Sackler family, owners of the pharmaceutical company that produces OxyContin, the addictive opioid pain medication. Purdue Pharma paid the family $400 million from its profits during that time, claims a lawsuit filed by the Massachusetts attorney general.

4 Feb 2019

Opioid overdose epidemic likely to increase in the U.S in coming years

A study from investigators at the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Technology Assessment projects that the opioid overdose epidemic in the U.S. is likely to increase in coming years, and that measures based on restricting access to prescription opioids will have a minimal impact in reducing overdose deaths.

3 Feb 2019

Researchers find promising technique for estimating rural intravenous drug use

A study published today in the American Journal of Public Health estimates that 1,857 people injected drugs in the last six months in Cabell County, W.Va., a rural county with a population of 94,958. This estimate is based on an innovative survey technique that public health officials can now use in their own rural communities to address the opioid epidemic.

25 Jan 2019

Study takes a step closer to understanding the body's response to opioid painkillers

Researchers have taken a step closer to understanding the body's response to opioid painkillers such as morphine and fentanyl, which could lead to the development of safer opioid drugs.

21 Jan 2019

Increased physician-targeted marketing associated with higher opioid overdose deaths

Many individuals cite prescription opioids as their gateway to illicit opioid use. However, while prescription opioids are involved in more than one-third of all opioid overdose deaths in the U.S., examining any correlation between prescription opioid overdose deaths and pharmaceutical industry marketing has been limited -- until now.

21 Jan 2019

Rapid-acting fentanyl test strips found to be effective at reducing overdose risk

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid so potent that a miniscule amount equivalent to several grains of salt can cause a fatal overdose. Yet it's difficult for people who use drugs to detect, which presents a major public health hazard given how commonly fentanyl is used to lace heroin or cocaine.

21 Jan 2019

Mutant mice administered with cocaine failed to exhibit hyperactivity, shows study

Cocaine is a highly addictive psychostimulant that induces complex molecular, cellular and behavioral responses. Despite various approaches and years of pre-clinical studies, effective, mechanism-based therapies to assist with cocaine misuse and dependence are still sorely lacking.

16 Jan 2019

Opiod prescriptions for pet dogs misused by their masters

A new study has shown that Americans are probably increasingly consuming the opioid analgesics that are prescribed for their pet dogs. The research shows that one of the reasons behind rise in the opioid epidemic could be the rise in prescription opioids for dogs.

14 Jan 2019

Misused veterinary prescriptions could contribute to the ongoing opioid epidemic

The increase in opioid prescriptions for people over the past decade may have been paralleled by an increase in opioid prescriptions for pets, according to a study from researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine and the School of Veterinary Medicine.

11 Jan 2019

Fentanyl News and Research

Further Reading

Single dose long lasting opioid antidote on the horizon

UTSA professor helps train first responders to detect prescription opioid overdoses

US opioid prescriptions drop by a half but it’s not all good news

Blunting emotional component associated with pain

Many heroin users are not prepared to prevent or treat fentanyl-related overdoses, study finds

More states say doctors must offer overdose reversal drug along with opioids

The United States records highest drug overdose death rates

Discharged, dismissed: ERs often miss chance to set overdose survivors on ‘better path’

Changing nature of opioid epidemic could be responsible for increase in overdose deaths

What ‘dope sick’ really feels like

Rutgers study uncovers new threat in the opiate epidemic

Lawsuit details how the Sackler family allegedly built an Oxycontin fortune

Opioid overdose epidemic likely to increase in the U.S in coming years

Researchers find promising technique for estimating rural intravenous drug use

Study takes a step closer to understanding the body's response to opioid painkillers

Increased physician-targeted marketing associated with higher opioid overdose deaths

Rapid-acting fentanyl test strips found to be effective at reducing overdose risk

Mutant mice administered with cocaine failed to exhibit hyperactivity, shows study

Opiod prescriptions for pet dogs misused by their masters

Misused veterinary prescriptions could contribute to the ongoing opioid epidemic

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

From Puberty to Menopause: Clue’s CEO, Audrey Tsang on the Power of Femtech

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