Methadone News and Research

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New editorial offers clarity on confusing drug and alcohol addiction terminology

A new editorial released this week offers clarity and structure on confusing drug and alcohol addiction terminology for prescribers, users and regulators. "Through a glass darkly: can we improve clarity about mechanism and aims of medications in drug and alcohol treatments?" is published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, the official journal of the British Association for Psychopharmacology, published by SAGE.

4 Feb 2012

Takeda, SPI announce that lubiprostone phase 3 trial on OBD meets primary endpoint

Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. announced today that lubiprostone met the primary endpoint in a phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of opioid-induced bowel dysfunction (OBD) in patients with chronic, non-cancer pain, excluding those taking methadone.

2 Feb 2012

Now cannabis mouth spray to help ‘pot’ addicts quit

To help smokers quit there are nicotine patches and heroin users have methadone. However till date cannabis users have little choice except stop abruptly to quit. Cannabis withdrawal symptoms include severe insomnia, pot cravings and mood swings. “Although these are not life-threatening, they are significant enough to cause marked distress and lead people to go back to using the drug,” said lead researcher Jan Copeland.

10 Jan 2012

Lightlake intends to develop a treatment for premenstrual syndrome overeating

Lightlake Therapeutics Inc., an early stage biopharmaceutical company developing modern addiction treatments based on its expertise using opioid antagonists, announced today that it intends to develop a treatment for premenstrual syndrome (PMS) overeating using its patented technology involving opioid antagonists.

7 Jan 2012

Similar sounding drug names should come with warnings

There have been mix ups and medication errors with similar sounding names of drugs - eye drops called Durezol and salicylic acid-containing wart remedy Duresal for example.

1 Jan 2012

Powerful painkiller on its way to the market: Experts worry about addiction woes

Drug makers are on their way to a pure, more powerful version of the nation’s second most-abused medicine, which has addiction experts worried that it could spur a new wave of abuse. The new pills contain the highly addictive painkiller hydrocodone, packing up to 10 times the amount of the drug as existing medications such as Vicodin.

28 Dec 2011

Russia will not use HIV spending to fund needle exchange, methadone therapy, Reuters reports

Though Russia is doubling its budget for HIV in 2012 over 2010 levels, "no money will go to such internationally recognized efforts as needle exchanges" and methadone replacement therapy, Reuters reports.

23 Dec 2011

Roundup: Texas members oppose state's MLR waiver; Calif.'s disability case takes unusual turn

If you want to know what a Tea Party America might look like, there is no place like Kansas. In the past year, three state agencies have been abolished and 2,050 jobs have been cut. Funding for schools, social services and the arts have been slashed. The new Republican governor rejected a $31.5 million federal grant for a new health-insurance exchange because he opposes President Obama's health-care law. And that's just the small stuff.

23 Dec 2011

Drug users with HIV infection have 74% higher risk of overdose

A study from Rhode Island Hospital is the first to systematically review and analyze the literature on the association between HIV infection and overdose risk.

13 Dec 2011

Vietnam should shut compulsory rehab centers for drug users, sex workers, U.N. expert says

A U.N. expert on Monday "urged Vietnam ... to close down its compulsory rehabilitation centers for sex workers and drug users, stressing that detention and forced treatment violate their right to health and perpetuate stigmatization and discrimination of those groups in the society," the U.N. News Centre reports.

7 Dec 2011

Novartis to showcase 160 presentations on breast cancer, hematological disease drugs at SABCS and ASH

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation will showcase more than one hundred and sixty presentations on data from its robust oncology portfolio at two key medical congresses this month, demonstrating significant advances for patients with cancers and hematological diseases.

3 Dec 2011

Combination of other opioids with methadone therapy can lead to overdose or fatal consequences

A new study has shown harmful prescription patterns of powerful painkillers among a substantial number of Ontario patients who received methadone therapy to treat their opioid addiction.

29 Nov 2011

APS supports CDC's call for multifaceted approach to address prescription drug misuse

As reported by the U.S Centers for Disease Control, some 15,000 deaths occurred in the U.S. in 2008 from overdoses of prescription pain medications, and demand for treatment of prescription opioid addiction increased almost six fold between 1999 and 2009.

10 Nov 2011

NIH announces results from first large scale study on treatment of prescription opioid addiction

People addicted to prescription painkillers reduce their opioid abuse when given sustained treatment with the medication buprenorphine plus naloxone (Suboxone), according to research published in yesterday's Archives of General Psychiatry and conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health.

9 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

Tibotec to present results of TMC435 phase 2b study on HCV at AASLD 2011

Tibotec Pharmaceuticals (Tibotec), one of the Janssen (Janssen) Pharmaceutical Companies, today will present results of the final analysis of PILLAR, a phase 2b study of the investigational hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS3/4A protease inhibitor TMC435 in treatment-naïve patients with chronic genotype 1 HCV, as part of a late-breaker oral presentation at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) in San Francisco, CA, USA.

7 Nov 2011

Escitalopram reduces pain severity, interference in opioid-dependent patients

In what is believed to be the first study of its kind to demonstrate an association between the antidepressant escitalopram and improved general pain, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), have found that opioid-dependent patients treated with escitalopram experienced meaningful reductions in pain severity and pain interference during the first three months of therapy.

4 Nov 2011

Viewpoints: GOP intransigence on super committee; taxing health benefits would backfire; the need for care in defining essential benefits

There may be logic to Speaker John Boehner's insidious intransigence. Republicans keep saying no and Democrats keep offering more concessions. Super committee Republicans suggested instead a package based largely on cuts in Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, combined with magical hundreds of billions they say would be produced by slashing assistance to the elderly and the vulnerable, by selling off government assets, and by the growth sparked by tax cuts.

3 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