Opioids News and Research

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An opioid is a chemical that works by binding to opioid receptors, which are found principally in the central nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract. The receptors in these two organ systems mediate both the beneficial effects and the side effects of opioids.

Preliminary research supports alternative drug for treating neonatal abstinence syndrome

In the past decade, the number of Kentucky babies starting life with a drug dependency, or neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), has skyrocketed from 1.3 per 1,000 births to 19 per 1,000 births.

4 Feb 2015

Study findings could offer roadmap for preventing deaths from drug overdoses

Results from a new study show that participants in drug overdose education programs tend to be parents (mostly mothers) who provide financial support for their son/daughter, have daily contact with their loved one, have applied for court-mandated treatment and have witnessed an overdose.

2 Feb 2015

Older users of opioids more likely to become victim of homicide, shows study

Older users of opioids such as heroin are 27 times more likely to become a victim of homicide than the general population, a University of Manchester study of almost 200,000 users has found.

30 Jan 2015

Kaleo, CHMI partner to reduce prescription drug-related deaths

Kaleo, a privately-held pharmaceutical company, today announced a national strategic partnership with the Clinton Health Matters Initiative, an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, that will help support its goal of cutting prescription drug-related deaths in half, saving approximately 10,000 lives over five years.

27 Jan 2015

Childbearing women who take painkillers may face increased risk of birth defects

More than one-fourth of privately-insured and one-third of Medicaid-enrolled women of childbearing age filled prescriptions for opioid-based (narcotic) painkillers between 2008 and 2012, according to a new analysis published today by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

23 Jan 2015

Use of methadone drug to treat pain increases mortality risk

Outside the hospital, use of methadone to treat pain carries a 46 percent increased risk of death when compared to the equally effective but more costly alternative, morphine SR (sustained release).

21 Jan 2015

AHS provides updated assessment of treatments for acute migraine

The January issue of the American Headache Society journal Headache provides an updated assessment of the best treatments to use when a migraine attack occurs. The assessment will form the basis of new AHS treatment guidelines.

21 Jan 2015

Controlling acute and chronic pain in women

Despite the variety of effective treatments, and physicians who specialize in treating pain, women often suffer unnecessarily from conditions ranging from backaches to pain after cancer surgery, and also treat their pain with medications that may be ineffective and possibly harmful, according to a review of research related to women and pain by the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

20 Jan 2015

Unmet medication need in neuropathic pain

A systematic review and meta-analysis reveals that current treatments for neuropathic pain achieve only a moderate response in patients.

16 Jan 2015

New study finds no correlation between opioids administered in the ER and patient satisfaction scores

A new study co-authored by investigators at the University of Massachusetts Medical School found that there is no correlation between opioids administered in the emergency room setting and Press Ganey ED patient satisfaction scores, one of the most commonly used metrics for measuring patient satisfaction.

16 Jan 2015

European countries implement ATOME project to study improved access to essential painkillers

Governments in 12 European countries are to implement the recommendations of research into why more patients are not receiving essential painkillers.

15 Jan 2015

Individualized, patient-centered care needed to treat and monitor people with chronic pain

An independent panel convened by the National Institutes of Health concluded that individualized, patient-centered care is needed to treat and monitor the estimated 100 million Americans living with chronic pain. To achieve this aim, the panel recommends more research and development around the evidence-based, multidisciplinary approaches needed to balance patient perspectives, desired outcomes, and safety.

14 Jan 2015

Improving headache treatment could reduce health care spending, new study suggests

Each year more than 12 million Americans visit their doctors complaining of headaches, which result in lost productivity and costs of upward of $31 billion annually. A new study by researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center suggests some of that cost could be offset by physicians ordering fewer tests and an increased focus on counseling about lifestyle changes.

8 Jan 2015

FDA approves Hospira's Dyloject (diclofenac sodium) Injection for pain management

Hospira, Inc., the world's leading provider of injectable drugs and infusion technologies, and a global leader in biosimilars, has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Dyloject (diclofenac sodium) Injection, a proprietary nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) analgesic.

30 Dec 2014

Heroin use impacts HIV disease progression

Researchers at Yale and Boston University and their Russian collaborators have found that occasional heroin use by HIV-positive patients may be particularly harmful to the immune system and worsens HIV disease, compared to persistent or no heroin use.

15 Dec 2014

Researchers find that one in six Ontario adults reports a history of TBI

Nearly seventeen per cent of adults surveyed in Ontario said they have suffered a traumatic brain injury that left them unconscious for five minutes or required them to be hospitalized overnight, according to new research. These same adults also reported more substance use, smoking and recent psychiatric distress.

11 Dec 2014

MOVENTIG (naloxegol) receives EC approval for treatment of opioid-induced constipation

Nektar Therapeutics reported partner AstraZeneca today announced that MOVENTIG (naloxegol) has been granted Marketing Authorisation by the European Commission for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation (OIC) in adult patients who have had an inadequate response to laxative(s).

9 Dec 2014

Doctors prescribe fewer opioids for pain as prescription drug abuse rises

Nine in 10 primary care physicians say that prescription drug abuse is a moderate or big problem in their communities and nearly half say they are less likely to prescribe opioids to treat pain compared to a year ago, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research suggests.

9 Dec 2014

Orexo announces positive results from ISTART/006 study

Orexo US, Inc. announced results from the ISTART/006 study, being presented today at the 25th Annual Meeting and Symposium of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry in Aventura, Florida, USA.

7 Dec 2014

University of Utah professor develops MORE intervention program for chronic pain patients

How can people who are dependent on prescription opioids reduce their cravings? Learn to enjoy other aspects of their lives.

6 Dec 2014