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Opioid dependence in Scotland remains high but largely stable, study shows

Opioid dependence in Scotland remains high but largely stable, according to a new University of Bristol-led analysis published in Addiction today [18 April] and by Public Health Scotland.

17 Apr 2024

UT Health San Antonio launches Be Well Institute for substance use research and treatment

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) is establishing the Be Well Institute on Substance Use and Related Disorders, a pioneering initiative dedicated to advancing research, education and evidence-based treatments.

3 Apr 2024

Telemedicine doubles HCV treatment success for opioid use disorder patients

People with opioid use disorder who have hepatitis C virus (HCV) were twice as likely to be successfully treated and cured from HCV if they received facilitated telemedicine treatment at their opioid treatment program (OTPs) than if they were referred off-site to another provider.

3 Apr 2024

A paramedic was skeptical about this Rx for stopping repeat opioid overdoses. Then he saw it help.

Fire Capt. Jesse Blaire steered his SUV through the mobile home park until he spotted the little beige house with white trim and radioed to let dispatchers know he'd arrived.

25 Mar 2024

The state of the union is … busy

President Joe Biden is working to lay out his health agenda for a second term, even as Congress races to finish its overdue spending bills for the fiscal year that began last October.

7 Mar 2024

California hospitals, advocates seek stable funding to retain behavioral health navigators

Health providers and addiction experts warn the funding structure is unstable for a California initiative that steers patients with substance use disorder into long-term treatment after they are discharged from emergency rooms, which has already led some critical employees to leave their jobs.

1 Mar 2024

California prison drug overdoses surge again after early treatment success

Drug overdose deaths in California state prisons rebounded to near record levels last year even as corrections officials touted the state's intervention methods as a model for prisons and jails across the United States.

14 Feb 2024

Pitt secures $7.8 million grant to improve quality of care for patients with opioid use disorder

The University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy's Program Evaluation and Research Unit (PERU) has received a five-year, $7.8 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to improve quality of care for patients with opioid use disorder across Pennsylvania.

30 Jan 2024

Records show Publix opioid sales grew even as addiction crisis prompted other chains’ pullback

An executive at Teva Pharmaceuticals flagged Publix Super Markets in October 2015 after detecting what he called in an email "serious red flags" with the grocery chain's orders of powerful opioids.

29 Jan 2024

E-cigarettes more effective for smoking cessation than conventional nicotine-replacement therapy

Nicotine e-cigarettes are more effective in helping people quit smoking than conventional nicotine-replacement therapy (NRT), according to the latest Cochrane review co-led by a University of Massachusetts Amherst public health and health policy researcher.

8 Jan 2024

New study challenges "gold standard" opioid treatment for cancer pain

Researchers examining the data on opioids for pain caused by cancer have found surprisingly large gaps in evidence regarding the true benefits of these medicines for cancer pain.

18 Dec 2023

New study casts doubt on effectiveness of opioids for cancer pain

The world's largest review on opioid medicines for cancer pain has found it is unclear whether some commonly used opioid medicines are better than a placebo and suggests that non-opioid medicines, including aspirin, may be as effective as opioids.

18 Dec 2023

UMSOM receives $29 million research award to improve health outcomes in people who inject opioid drugs

University of Maryland School of Medicine Dean Mark T. Gladwin, MD, announced today that the school will receive a $29 million research award over four years from the National Institutes of Health to lead a multicenter trial that aims to improve health outcomes in people who inject opioid drugs and are hospitalized with infectious complications of their drug use.

11 Dec 2023

Evolving overdose crisis shakes previously effective treatments

"You can't inject a horse tranquilizer and think nothing bad is gonna happen" to you, said Ty Sears, 33, a longtime drug user now in recovery.

21 Nov 2023

New prediction model estimates risk of opioid relapse early in treatment

A newly developed prediction model may be able to calculate the risk of opioid relapse among individuals in the early stages of medication treatment-;as early as three weeks into therapy.

3 Nov 2023

Opioid use disorder treatment lowers risk of overdose after surgery, study finds

Although people with opioid use disorder (OUD) are significantly more likely to overdose or have a complication after major surgery than those without the disorder, using medications for the treatment of OUD before surgery may eliminate that extra risk, suggests a large, first-of-its-kind study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2023 annual meeting.

15 Oct 2023

ADHD drug could serve as a cocaine-replacement therapy

Cocaine use continues to be a public health problem, yet despite concerted efforts, no drugs have been approved to resolve cocaine addiction. Research suggests that the attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder drug methylphenidate (MPH; Ritalin) could serve as a cocaine-replacement therapy, but clinical results have been mixed.

30 Aug 2023

American Heart Association calls for more research on e-cigarettes

Research increasingly reveals health risks of e-cigarette use, and more studies are needed about the long-term impact e-cigarettes may have on the heart and lungs, according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association published today in the Association's flagship journal Circulation.

17 Jul 2023

The American Journal of Health Economics articles examine policies to address opioid crisis

The August 2023 issue of the American Journal of Health Economics will feature a cluster of articles that examine the opioid crisis.

10 Jul 2023

Study reveals wide discrepancies among U.S. states in treating opioid use disorder

Despite a national opioid overdose epidemic supercharged by a surge of illicit fentanyl, new research from Oregon Health & Science University reveals wide discrepancies among U.S. states in effectively treating opioid use disorder among people covered by Medicaid.

23 Jun 2023