OxyContin News and Research

RSS

Fraud roundup: LA hospital workers investigated; Guilty pleas in Texas and N.J. cases; Fla. candidate defends his actions

Los Angeles County officials are investigating allegations that Olive View-UCLA Medical Center staff accepted gifts from nursing home employees in exchange for placing Medi-Cal and Medicare patients at their facilities, a possible violation of the county's code of ethics, as well as state and federal anti-kickback laws.

3 Jun 2010

QRxPharma reports successful outcome of Phase 1 trial for MoxDuo CR for chronic pain

QRxPharma announced today the successful outcome of a Phase 1 trial for MoxDuo CR, a controlled-release (CR) Dual-Opioid(TM) designed to provide 12 hours of pain relief in patients suffering from moderate to severe chronic pain (including cancer, lower back, osteoarthritis and neuropathic). The purpose of the trial was to determine which of the various experimental formulations provided the optimum duration of drug levels in the blood.

10 May 2010

Stinging FDA review for Acurox – the implications

The US FDA’s advisory panel’s decision to recommend against approval of Acura Pharmaceuticals/King Pharmaceuticals’ Acurox (oxycodone plus niacin) was based upon the view that data were lacking that niacin-induced flushing could potentially reduce misuse of Acurox with single-ingredient oxycodone. The panel also contended that clinical studies were not conducted in populations that might be likely to benefit from the drug’s purported abuse-deterrent properties, such as those with chronic pain and adolescents who are experimenting with drug use.

27 Apr 2010

Legal case asks who to blame for medical device failure

The New York Times: A legal case now pending asks a question increasingly faced by the medical world -- "who should be held accountable when a company sells a flawed product that can injure or kill patients? Is it the company or the people who run it?"

22 Apr 2010

Physicians warn parents on dangers of prescription drug abuse among children

With reports of increased prescription drug overdoses in emergency departments, the nation's emergency physicians are issuing a strong warning to parents about the dangers of abusing prescription drugs, which are now the second most abused drugs, after marijuana. Hospital visits caused by accidental and unintentional prescription drug overdoses went up 37 percent between 1999 and 2006, according to new data released by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

13 Apr 2010

New formulation of controlled-release drug OxyContin approved

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a new formulation of the controlled-release drug OxyContin that has been designed to help discourage misuse and abuse of the medication.

6 Apr 2010

Nation's emergency physicians warn parents about dangers of prescription drug abuse

The nation's emergency physicians are issuing a strong warning to parents about the dangers of prescription drug abuse, which are now the second most abused drugs, after marijuana. Nearly three-quarters of a million people (741,425) needed emergency care in 2006 because of prescription drug abuse.

31 Mar 2010

QRxPharma initiates Phase 1 trial for evaluating PK profiles of morphine, oxycodone CR formulations

QRxPharma announced today initiation of the Company's first Phase 1 trial to evaluate the pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles of experimental controlled-release (CR) morphine and oxycodone formulations that will be incorporated into MoxDuo®CR. MoxDuo®CR contains a fixed 3:2 morphine:oxycodone combination and is intended to be dosed twice daily in patients experiencing chronic pain, an approximately US$7 billion dollar market worldwide.

31 Mar 2010

Impax Laboratories announces record net income of $0.61 per diluted share for fourth-quarter 2009

Impax Laboratories, Inc. today reported its strongest financial results in its history due to record sales from its Global products sales channel.

25 Feb 2010

Positive results from Phosphagenics' TPM Phase 1B clinical study for transdermal delivery of oxycodone

Phosphagenics Limited today announced positive results from a Phase 1B clinical study using the Company’s patented TPM™ (Targeted Penetration Matrix) for the transdermal delivery of oxycodone. The results of the successful trial demonstrate that daily application of a TPM™ patch delivers therapeutic levels of oxycodone into the blood stream in a reproducible, consistent and sustained manner.

2 Feb 2010

Study examines how opioid overdose differs by prescribed dose for chronic pain conditions

More and more Americans with chronic pain not caused by cancer are taking medically prescribed opioids like Oxycontin (oxycodone) and Vicodin (hydrocodone). The January 19 Annals of Internal Medicine features the first study to explore the risk of overdose in patients prescribed opioids for chronic noncancer pain in general health care.

19 Jan 2010

Rx Locker device to secure prescription medications

Due to the rising statistics about teens and prescription drug abuse, Dr. Drew Pinsky, host of Celebrity Rehab and Loveline, recently debuted the Rx Locker, a device designed to secure prescription medications within the home to restrict unauthorized access and prevent abuse.

7 Jan 2010

Woodcock discusses FDA's ongoing initiative to reduce preventable harm from medication use

An article by Janet Woodcock, M.D., director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, titled "A Difficult Balance - Pain Management, Drug Safety, and the FDA," appears in the Nov. 26, 2009 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

5 Jan 2010

New study indicates growing number of people are abusing prescription painkillers

This entire year was marked by an abundance of media coverage and attention surrounding prescription painkillers, largely the result of widespread misuse throughout Hollywood.

24 Dec 2009

HSA survey reveals drug cost inflation in workers’ compensation is up by 7.5%

Drug cost inflation in workers’ compensation is up 7.5 percent according to Health Strategy Associates’ (HSA) Sixth Annual Survey of Prescription Drug Management in Workers’ Compensation.

10 Dec 2009

Deaths from opioid use in Ontario have doubled, according to new study

Deaths from opioid use in Ontario have doubled-from 13.7 deaths per million residents in 1991 to 27.2 deaths per million residents in 2004-according to a new study led by physicians at St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) in Toronto.

8 Dec 2009

New nursing guideline to enhance improved care for MMT clients

A pregnant woman walks into a hospital in early labour. She feels nauseated and achy; her contractions are 20 minutes apart. There is more to her story than meets the eye. She is on methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) and wasn't able to pick up her daily dose at the pharmacy this morning. Although her story may be hard to believe she is one of the estimated 17,000 clients in Ontario currently receiving MMT.

2 Dec 2009

New article discusses the balance between pain management and drug safety

26 Nov 2009

Study examines temporal association between media coverage and opioid-related deaths

Increases in deaths from opioid drugs such as OxyContin may be linked to the volume of coverage such deaths receive in the news, according to a study from Children's Hospital Boston and the University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill. The study compared patterns of opioid deaths and patterns of news coverage between 1999 and 2005, during which time mortality rates from opioid abuse doubled.

20 Nov 2009

Binge drinking, cannabis and prescription drugs still remain a concern among teenagers

While fewer teens are drinking alcohol in 2009 than a decade ago, binge drinking, use of cannabis and prescription drugs remain a concern, according to the 2009 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS) released today by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

19 Nov 2009