Painkiller News and Research

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Painkiller use during delivery falls from 67% to 61% in a decade

The use of analgesics or anesthetics before or during delivery has dropped from 67% of all deliveries in 2008-09 to 61% in 2018-19.

8 Nov 2019

Study identifies several drugs with potential to prevent suicide attempts

A review of 922 prescription medications taken by almost 150 million people over an 11-year period shows that just 10 of these drugs were associated with an increased rate of suicide attempts.

5 Nov 2019

New online course launched to help providers understand every facet of opioid crisis

Even if they never write a single prescription for an opioid painkiller, or care for someone who has overdosed on heroin or fentanyl, people who work in every area of American healthcare need to understand how the opioid epidemic is affecting their patients, their families and their communities, and how to prevent new cases of opioid addiction.

30 Oct 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

Paracetamol use during pregnancy linked to childhood behavioral problems

A new study has found further evidence linking paracetamol intake during pregnancy with potential adverse behavioral and cognitive outcomes during childhood.

16 Sep 2019

How to get bargain dentistry and a vacation to boot

"Do you want numbing gel?" the dental technician asked me as she prepared to plunge into my mouth.

3 Sep 2019

Small biodegradable implant for releasing local anesthetic inside the body

Patients fitted with an orthopedic prosthetic commonly experience a period of intense pain after surgery. In an effort to control the pain, surgeons inject painkillers into the tissue during the operation.

7 Aug 2019

Gut cells have remarkable defense mechanism when faced with certain kinds of toxins

A team of Duke researchers has discovered that cells lining the gut of zebrafish -- and probably humans too -- have a remarkable defense mechanism when faced with certain kinds of toxins: they hit the eject button.

6 Aug 2019

Astrocytic MORs in the hippocampus responsible for conditioned place preference

If somebody asks me "are you a coffee addict?" I may say, "Yeah it seems like, but on the one condition, only in my office." I don't have that much craving for coffee at home, but just being in the office, where I used to drink coffee all the time seeking to get caffeine jitters, seems to trigger my caffeine-addicted brain.

31 Jul 2019

Study finds rates of new persistent opioid use among women after vaginal or cesarean delivery

Nearly half of American women having a baby in the last decade received a prescription for a powerful opioid painkiller as part of their birth experience, a new study shows.

27 Jul 2019

Opioid overdose deaths on the decline says CDC but the real picture may still be grim

The opioid epidemic began in the 1990s with hundreds of deaths occurring each year due to overdose of these drugs of abuse. According to the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), for the first time in two decades, there has been a drop of 5 percent in the opioid overdose deaths in 2018.

17 Jul 2019

Surgeons’ opioid-prescribing habits hard to kick

As opioid addiction and deadly overdoses escalated into an epidemic across the U.S., thousands of surgeons continued to hand out far more pills than needed for postoperative pain relief, according to a KHN-Johns Hopkins analysis of Medicare data.

21 Jun 2019

Acetaminophen can limit positive empathy for others, study shows

A new study by an Ohio University faculty member showed that acetaminophen limited positive empathy a person has for others while taking it.

8 Apr 2019

Polypharmacy in old age increases risk of adverse side effects

As people get older, the more likely they are to take several different medicines on a regular basis. However, this increases the risk of adverse effects, including interactions between the various active agents.

4 Apr 2019

Taking painkillers during pregnancy is not responsible for asthma risk in children, study shows

A study of almost 500,000 women indicates that taking paracetamol or other painkillers during pregnancy is not responsible for increasing the risk of asthma in children.

18 Mar 2019

Study explores whether Nordic countries could head towards opioid crisis like the U.S.

Addiction to prescription opioids has reached a crisis level in the United States. Now the drug is causing concern across the Atlantic. Researchers from Denmark, Norway and Sweden urge caution after discovering that prescriptions for the pain medication oxycodone have significantly increased during the last decade.

13 Mar 2019

Researchers find potential new target for chronic pain treatment

A research group at Hiroshima University observed a potential new target for chronic pain treatment. Further research using this receptor could lead to new, more effective drugs to use in pain-relieving treatment for chronic pain.

7 Mar 2019

Many heroin users are not prepared to prevent or treat fentanyl-related overdoses, study finds

Most heroin users in Baltimore, a city heavily affected by the opioid epidemic, recognize that the heroin they buy is now almost always laced with the highly dangerous synthetic opioid fentanyl, according to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

6 Mar 2019

Big-data analysis finds new link between popular arthritis drug and heart valve calcification

A well-known, four-year study found popular arthritis drug Celebrex no more dangerous for the heart than older drugs in its same classification - commonly called NSAIDs.

23 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