Painkiller News and Research

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Pfizer wins day in court over Celebrex

Drug giant Pfizer has won a court ruling in the United States which could limit the lawsuits the company might possibly face over claims that its painkiller Celebrex caused heart attacks and strokes.

20 Nov 2007

Petition aims to stem the flood of dangerous drugs reaching Americans

In a petition filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, an international coalition of scientists and doctors seeks to compel the agency to stem the flood of dangerous drugs reaching American consumers by mandating the use of scientifically superior non-animal testing methods when those alternatives exist.

15 Nov 2007

Preventing Morphine tolerance

Tolerance to the pain-relieving effects of morphine - which builds rapidly with prolonged use - can be prevented by blocking a key substance that's formed when the drug is taken, researchers at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine have discovered.

2 Nov 2007

How does the opioid system work?

The opioid system controls pain, reward and addictive behaviors. Opioids exert their pharmacological actions through three opioid receptors, mu, delta and kappa whose genes have been cloned (Oprm, Oprd1 and Oprk1, respectively).

15 Oct 2007

Taking antidepressants with painkillers dangerous

Taking antidepressants together with painkillers can substantially increase the risk of bleeding from the stomach, according to new research by the University of East Anglia.

9 Oct 2007

Research explains why opioids are thought to be ineffective in people with fibromyalgia

People who have the common chronic pain condition fibromyalgia often report that they don't respond to the types of medication that relieve other people's pain.

27 Sep 2007

Caffeine and acetaminophen don't mix well

Consuming large amounts of caffeine while taking acetaminophen, one of the most widely used painkillers in the United States, could potentially cause liver damage, according to a preliminary laboratory study reported in the Oct. 15 print issue of ACS' Chemical Research in Toxicology, a monthly journal.

27 Sep 2007

Americans popping more pills

Americans are it seems popping more pills than ever, as according to an analysis of federal data, sales of leading painkiller medications soared by 90 percent in the eight years between 1997 and 2005.

21 Aug 2007

Breakthrough pain medication

Cancer patients frequently experience two types of pain: persistent and breakthrough.

17 Aug 2007

FDA taking no chances when it comes to drug safety

These days the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking no chances when it comes to the safety of new drugs.

13 Aug 2007

Cannabis mouth spray eases pain of cancer patients

Canadian health authorities have given approval for a new cannabis-based painkiller for use with cancer patients.

8 Aug 2007

Nanoparticles may provide safe pain control on the battlefield

University of Michigan scientists have received a pilot grant of nearly $1.3 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to test whether nanoparticles can solve a pressing problem in battle zones like Iraq: how to administer sustained, safe doses of the most effective painkillers to injured soldiers, long before they can reach expert medical help.

1 Aug 2007