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.

FDA takes new steps to address opioid crisis by approving Opioid Analgesic Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration took new steps as part of its broader efforts to address the opioid crisis by approving the final Opioid Analgesic Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy.

19 Sep 2018

Half as many people are trying heroin, but marijuana use grows

Some good news from the front lines of the heroin crisis: Half as many people tried heroin for the first time in 2017 as in 2016. That's according to data released Friday from the government's annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

14 Sep 2018

Researchers develop new generation of pain medications

Researchers from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Zuse Institute Berlin have developed a new generation of pain medications.

7 Sep 2018

Researchers take major step forward in finding safe and non-addictive pain killer

With the support of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, scientists at Wake Forest School of Medicine have been working to find a safe, non-addictive pain killer to help fight the current opioid crisis in this country.

30 Aug 2018

Drug overdose continues to be a significant cause of death in Australia

A new report has come up with alarming numbers of deaths due to drug overdose among Australians. The report states that common sedatives and sleeping pills may be responsible for over 142 deaths each month due to their overdose.

27 Aug 2018

Study may fuel need for effective drug testing in hospital emergency departments

At a time when drug overdoses are becoming more prevalent and lethal, a new report provides a snapshot of regional illicit drug use and, for the first time, highlights the complexity of detecting and treating patients at hospital emergency departments for a severe drug-related event.

21 Aug 2018

As opioid crisis rages, some trade ‘tough love’ for empathy

It was Bea Duncan who answered the phone at 2 a.m. on a January morning. Her son Jeff had been caught using drugs in a New Hampshire sober home and was being kicked out.

8 Aug 2018

Doctors reckon with high rate of suicide in their ranks

Alarms go off so frequently in emergency rooms, doctors barely notice. And then a colleague is wheeled in on a gurney, clinging to life, and that alarm becomes a deafening wake-up call.

3 Aug 2018

How rival opioid makers sought to cash in on alarm over oxycontin’s dangers

As Purdue Pharma faced mounting criticism over deaths linked to OxyContin, rival drugmakers saw a chance to boost sales by stepping up marketing of similarly dangerous painkillers, such as fentanyl, morphine and methadone, Purdue internal documents reveal.

2 Aug 2018

Patients with chronic pain feel caught in an opioid-prescribing debate

It started with a rolled ankle during a routine Army training exercise. Shannon Hubbard never imagined it was the prologue to one of the most debilitating pain conditions known to exist, called complex regional pain syndrome.

1 Aug 2018

FSMB partners with NAM to form Action Collaborative on countering opioid epidemic

In recognition of the need for a national coordinated and collective response to the epidemic of opioid addiction in the U.S., the Federation of State Medical Boards is partnering with the National Academy of Medicine and 35 organizations to form the Action Collaborative on Countering the U.S. Opioid Epidemic.

1 Aug 2018

What a U.S.-China trade war could mean for the opioid epidemic

The American struggle to curb opioid addiction could become collateral damage in President Donald Trump's showdown on trade.

6 Jul 2018

Illicit drug supply at record heights

According to a 2018 World Drug report released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) this week (26th June 2018) the supply of illicit drugs such as cocaine, opium and heroin have reached record heights.

28 Jun 2018

After opioid overdose, only 30 percent get medicine to treat addiction

More than 115 Americans die every day of opioid overdose. Many more survive thanks to the antidote medication, naloxone. But a study out Monday finds that just 3 in 10 patients revived by an EMT or in an emergency room received the follow-up medication known to avoid another life-threatening event.

19 Jun 2018

Opioid overdoses are rising faster among Latinos than whites or blacks. Why?

The tall, gangly man twists a cone of paper in his hands as stories from nearly 30 years of addiction pour out: the robbery that landed him in prison at age 17; never getting his high school equivalency diploma; going through the horrors of detox, maybe 40 times, including this latest bout, which he finished two weeks ago. He’s now in a residential treatment unit for at least 30 days.

17 May 2018

ASA survey: Drug shortages impact care for patients undergoing anesthesia

A national drug shortage crisis is potentially affecting the care received every day for thousands of patients undergoing anesthesia.

25 Apr 2018

MGH researchers identify risk factors for drug overdose in youth with substance use disorders

A team of Massachusetts General Hospital investigators has identified factors that may increase the risk of drug overdose in adolescents and young adults. In their report published online in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, the researchers describe finding that more than a quarter of those seeking treatment at Addiction Recovery Management Service, an MGH-based outpatient substance-use-disorder treatment program for youth ages 14 to 26, had a history of at least one overdose.

24 Apr 2018

Wide-scale distribution of naloxone effectively prevents overdose deaths, study finds

A new study in The Lancet Public Health shows the rapid expansion of British Columbia's Take Home Naloxone program significantly reduced the number of fentanyl-related overdose deaths in 2016.

18 Apr 2018

New automated text messaging service may help combat opioid epidemic

A new automated text messaging service may curb opioid abuse and reduce the likelihood of relapse while also decreasing treatment costs, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine and Epharmix, a St. Louis-based digital health company.

17 Apr 2018

Safety violations compound pain of painkiller shortages

Safety violations at a major compounding pharmacy are exacerbating hospital shortages of key painkillers, particularly in California where health officials have taken the "extraordinary" step of prohibiting sales from one of its plants.

16 Apr 2018