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.

QRxPharma receives date for US pain drug launch, pending approval

Australian pain-relief drug developer QRxPharma (QRX) has announced today that they have received from the US Food & Drug Adminstration.

8 Nov 2011

Link between heavy methamphetamine use and schizophrenia

In the first worldwide study of its kind, scientists from Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) found evidence that heavy methamphetamine users might have a higher risk of developing schizophrenia.

8 Nov 2011

First large-scale study to address treatment of prescription opioid addiction

Individuals addicted to prescription painkillers are more likely to succeed in treatment with the aid of the medication buprenorphine-naloxone (Suboxone), report McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School researchers in today's online edition of the Archives of General Psychiatry.

8 Nov 2011

Americans overdosing on prescription pain killers

According to figures released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 40 Americans die from prescription painkiller abuse each day. Overdoses of opioid prescription drugs now kill more people in the U.S. than do overdoses from heroin and cocaine combined the report says. Twelve million Americans say they abused prescription drugs in the last year.

2 Nov 2011

J&JPRD submits NUCYNTA ER sNDA to FDA for DPN associated neuropathic pain

Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C. announced today that it has submitted a supplemental New Drug Application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for NUCYNTA ER (tapentadol) extended-release tablets, an oral analgesic, for the management of neuropathic pain associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy in adults.

31 Oct 2011

FDA approves Pacira's EXPAREL for postsurgical pain management

Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announces that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved EXPAREL 1.3% for administration into the surgical site to produce postsurgical analgesia.

31 Oct 2011

Multimodal analgesia is used less than 25% of the time prior to surgery

Many surgical patients are concerned about the level of pain they will experience. In a new study presented at ANESTHESIOLOGY 2011, researchers from Thomas Jefferson University identified that multimodal analgesia, a combination of pain medication and therapeutic measures to improve pain control, is used less than 25 percent of the time prior to surgery.

19 Oct 2011

Inhaled anesthetics do not increase incidence of postoperative delirium

A study presented at ANESTHESIOLOGY 2011 in Chicago this week offered firm evidence that commonly used inhaled anesthetics such as isoflurane do not increase the incidence of postoperative delirium, which can affect how well some patients recover after surgery.

18 Oct 2011

Researchers control itch without dulling morphine's pain-killing effects

Itching is one of the most prevalent side effects of powerful, pain-killing drugs like morphine, oxycodone and other opioids. The opiate-associated itch is so common that even women who get epidurals for labor pain often complain of itching. For many years, scientists have scratched their own heads about why drugs that so effectively suppress pain also induce itch.

14 Oct 2011

AIT Laboratories introduces new suite of services for prescription compliance monitoring

Chronic pain affects an estimated 116 million adults in the U.S.—more than the number affected by heart disease, diabetes, and cancer combined, according to a recent report by the Institute of Medicine.

10 Oct 2011

Alkermes initiates ALKS 37 phase 2b study in opioid-induced constipation

Alkermes plc today announced the initiation of a phase 2b study of ALKS 37, an orally active, peripherally restricted opioid antagonist for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation.

3 Oct 2011

Pacira announces data from EXPAREL clinical study presented at ASPS 2011 meeting

Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the company's lead investigational product for postsurgical pain management, EXPAREL, was highlighted in the "Hot Topics in Plastic Surgery" panel at the annual scientific assembly of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) in Denver, Colo.

26 Sep 2011

Ibandronate controls pain in prostate cancer patients with bone metastases

Many prostate cancer patients develop bone metastases, and controlling the pain these cause can be difficult. Now the first large randomised Phase III trial of a bisphosphonate drug in these patients has shown that a single dose of the drug is as good for pain relief as single dose radiotherapy, the standard treatment for bone metastases. Results of the trial were presented at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress.

26 Sep 2011

The Journal of Pain publishes results from Butrans Transdermal System Phase 3 clinical study

Butrans (Buprenorphine) Transdermal System CIII 20 mcg/hour provided significantly lower "average pain over the last 24 hours" scores compared to Butrans 5 mcg/hour when used in opioid-experienced patients with moderate-to-severe chronic low back pain, according to a pivotal Phase 3 clinical study published in the online, August issue of The Journal of Pain.

26 Sep 2011

Study: Opioid drugs can increase risk of pneumonia in older adults

Opioids -- a class of medicines commonly given for pain -- were associated with a higher risk of pneumonia in a study of 3,061 adults, aged 65 to 94, e-published in advance of publication in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

23 Sep 2011

Multimodal analgesia important for effective control of pain

Efforts to effectively control pain in hospitalized patients with opioid (narcotic) analgesics can lead to unintentional sedation and respiratory depression, which are serious adverse events affecting the quality of recovery for patients.

20 Sep 2011

Study finds no clear advantage of ultrasound guidance for pain relief in nerve block procedures

Using ultrasound to guide the performance of nerve blocks—in which anesthetics are directly targeted to a specific nerve or group of nerves—has contributed to the increased use of regional anesthesia.

17 Sep 2011

Study shows increase in pediatric medication poisoning

The number of young children admitted to hospitals or seen in emergency departments because they unintentionally took a potentially toxic dose of medication has risen dramatically in recent years, according to a new Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study.

16 Sep 2011

P3 survey: 44% of U.S. patients receive inadequate relief of moderate-to-severe acute pain

A new survey shows almost half (44%) of U.S. patients in outpatient settings received potentially inadequate relief of moderate-to-severe acute pain.

15 Sep 2011

Leading cancer journals publish OncoGenex's custirsen pre-clinical and Phase II study data

OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that data from two studies, a Phase II clinical study and a pre-clinical study, evaluating the investigational compound custirsen, were published in the September issues of the journals Clinical Cancer Research and Cancer Research.

7 Sep 2011