A Viewpoint article published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that the clinical practice of prescribing amphetamines, opioids, and benzodiazepines to treat chronic pain may be contributing to the increase in fatal drug overdoses and the likelihood that those drugs will be diverted to the illegal market.
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Factors such as growing unfunded pension liabilities and burgeoning fixed costs related to programs like Medicaid are weighing down weaker states, while stronger states are benefiting from improved business conditions and strong employment growth, he said. A closer look at some specific metrics shows this fiscal disparity.
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Prescription overdoses kill more people than heroin and cocaine. An L.A. Times review of coroners' records finds that drugs prescribed by a small number of doctors caused or contributed to a disproportionate number of deaths.
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A new study by the University of Colorado Denver reveals that today's adolescents are abusing prescription pain medications like vicodin, valium and oxycontin at a rate 40 percent higher than previous generations.
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Mephedrone is a fairly new designer drug which has been around for a few years. It exploded in popularity in Europe (and particularly in the UK) before it started to spread in a major way elsewhere.
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Cholesterol levels may be negatively associated with heroin craving in patients on methadone maintenance therapy, researchers suggest.
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A study by a team of University of Kentucky researchers has shed new light on the potential habit-forming properties of the popular pain medication tramadol, in research funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
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Prescription painkillers are responsible for more fatal overdoses in the United States than heroin and cocaine combined. And while most states have programs to curb abuse and addiction, a new report from Brandeis University shows that many states do not fully analyze the data they collect.
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California's attorney general has launched a broad investigation into whether growing consolidation among hospitals and doctor groups is pushing up the price of medical care, reflecting increasing scrutiny by antitrust regulators of medical-provider deals.
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The latest issue of Pathogens and Global Health highlights the current debate surrounding the under-investigated, and politically sensitive, issue of counterfeit medicine. Issue 106.2 includes an interview with Dr Paul Newton, Head of the Laos arm of the Wellcome Trust's Major Overseas Programmes, and a number of articles highlighting the technological innovations and field initiatives that are challenging this threat to global health.
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A "contingency management" approach—offering incentives for negative drug tests—can help promote drug abstinence among pregnant women with heroin or cocaine addiction, reports a study in the September Addictive Disorders & Their Treatment. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
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Long-term methadone treatment can cause changes in the brain, according to recent studies from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. The results show that treatment may affect the nerve cells in the brain. The studies follow on from previous studies where methadone was seen to affect cognitive functioning, such as learning and memory.
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A new report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) found that rural and urban substance abuse treatment admissions in 2009 differed by nearly every aspect examined.
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In a major breakthrough, an international team of scientists has proven that addiction to morphine and heroin can be blocked, while at the same time increasing pain relief.
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"Methadone treatment is proving to be the most efficient way to wean people in Bangladesh from addiction to buprenorphine, a pharmaceutical drug, and health experts say it should be expanded to reach thousands more drug users to prevent the spread of HIV," IRIN reports.
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A combination of two existing pharmaceutical drugs may soon be used to treat cocaine addiction, findings from an animal study in Science Translational Medicine suggest.
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A fine-tuned combination of two existing pharmaceutical drugs has shown promise as a potential new therapy for people addicted to cocaine—a therapy that would reduce their craving for the drug and blunt their symptoms of withdrawal.
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Dr. Gary R. Matyas has been selected the 2012 recipient of the NIDA Avant-Garde Award for Medications Development. Matyas proposes to develop an effective, safe and easily manufactured combination anti-heroin/HIV vaccine that could treat heroin addiction while at the same time prevent HIV infection in those receiving the vaccine.
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A change in the formula of the frequently abused prescription painkiller OxyContin has many abusers switching to a drug that is potentially more dangerous, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
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Cigarette smoking and nicotine addiction are widespread problems throughout the world. Many people continue to smoke despite high taxes and the available public information on the dangers of smoking.
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