OxyContin News and Research

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College students with physical and cognitive disabilities have greater risk for substance abuse

College students with physical and cognitive disabilities use illicit drugs more, and have a higher prevalence of drug use disorder, than their non-disabled peers, according to a Rutgers study.

21 Sep 2020

Scientists discover possible biomarkers for detecting opioid use disorder during pregnancy

Scientists at the University of Missouri have discovered possible biological markers that they hope could one day help identify the presence of an opioid use disorder during human pregnancy.

26 Aug 2020

Researchers find a key brain region for controlling binge drinking

A team of National Institutes of Health-funded researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina has found that deactivating a stress-signaling system in a brain area known for motivation and emotion-related behaviors decreases binge drinking.

17 Apr 2020

California’s new attack on opioid addiction hits old roadblocks

Jennifer Stilwell, a 30-year-old mother of two young children, kicked heroin cold turkey five years ago, but she got hooked again last fall.

1 Apr 2020

Most youths do not get timely addiction treatment after opioid overdose

A study of more than 4 million Medicaid claims records during a recent seven-year period concludes that less than a third of the nearly 3,800 U.S. adolescents and young adults who experienced a nonfatal opioid overdose got timely (within 30 days) follow-up addiction treatment to curb or prevent future misuse and reduce the risk of a second overdose.

17 Jan 2020

FDA’s risk-management program to curb improper opioid prescribing may not have been effective

A risk-management program set up in 2012 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to curb improper prescribing of extended-release and long-acting opioids may not have been effective because of shortcomings in the program's design and execution, according to a paper from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

7 Jan 2020

Vaping among teens doubles in a year says MTF report

The 45th Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey 2019 has revealed that teenagers are preferring e cigarettes more and more and there is an increased propensity of using nicotine and marijuana in their e cigarettes. The latest report titled, “Trends in Reported Marijuana Vaping among U.S. Adolescents, 2017-2019”, was released in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

18 Dec 2019

Study finds increased prevalence of marijuana and nicotine vaping among teens

Findings from the 2019 Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey demonstrate the appeal of vaping to teens, as seen in the increased prevalence of marijuana use as well as nicotine vaping.

18 Dec 2019

Older teens may have similar opioid overdose risk factors as adults

Older teens may have similar risk factors for prescription opioid overdose as adults, a new study suggests.

16 Dec 2019

Longtime crusader against Oxycontin begins to see the fruits of her struggle

In the 15 years since she lost her son to a single OxyContin pill, Barbara Van Rooyan has had but one up-close look at the people representing the company that made it.

17 Sep 2019

Researchers find biological system that manages cells' response to opioid drug exposure

A team at Scripps Research in Florida has discovered a biological system that manages cells' response to opioid drug exposure. The unexpected discovery offers new ideas for improving the safety of the one of the most effective, and most abused, group of pain medications.

19 Aug 2019

Federal grants ‘a lifesaver’ in opioid fight, but states still struggle to curb meth

In his 40 years of working with people struggling with addiction, David Crowe has seen various drugs fade in and out of popularity in Pennsylvania's Crawford County.

17 Jun 2019

Oklahoma’s ‘precedent-setting’ suit puts opioid drugmakers on trial

All eyes will be on Oklahoma this week when the first case in a flood of litigation against opioid drug manufacturers begins Tuesday.

28 May 2019

Drug overdoses among adolescents and young adults on the rise

In American adolescents and young adults, death rates from drug poisoning, particularly from opioids, have sharply increased over the last 10 years, according to new research in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

25 Apr 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

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

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

County by county, researchers link opioid deaths to drugmakers’ marketing

Researchers sketched a vivid line Friday linking the dollars spent by drugmakers to woo doctors around the country to a vast opioid epidemic that has led to tens of thousands of deaths.

18 Jan 2019

Fentanyl surpasses heroin in cause of U.S. drug overdose deaths

According to a new report from health officials, Fentanyl – a synthetic opioid drug, is surpassing heroin as cause of drug overdose deaths in the United States. The report was released 12th of December 2018 in the CDC’s National Vital Statistics Report.

13 Dec 2018