Overdose News and Research

RSS

NIH establishes research network to test harm reduction strategies in community settings

To address the overdose crisis in the United States, the National Institutes of Health has established a research network that will test harm reduction strategies in different community settings to inform efforts to help save lives.

16 Dec 2022

New chemical compound shows promise to reverse effects of potentially deadly drugs

Drug overdoses in the United States have risen sharply in the last two decades. Nearly 92,000 people died from overdoses of illegal drugs and prescription opioids in 2020 - more than five times the number of deaths in the year 2000 - and synthetic opioids like fentanyl are one of the main culprits.

16 Dec 2022

People with cocaine- and opioid-use disorders infected with COVID-19 have greater risk of endocarditis

People diagnosed with cocaine- and opioid-use disorders are more susceptible to developing endocarditis, a condition that damages the lining of the heart valves and chambers, according to research from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health.

14 Dec 2022

Study shows benefits of decreasing opioid refills for hip and knee arthroplasty patients

Opioids are commonly prescribed to patients that are discharged after a total knee and hip arthroplasty. Patients are typically given larger prescriptions of opioids that can result in an excess of the medication in their home after recovery is over.

14 Dec 2022

In rural America, deadly costs of opioids outweigh the dollars tagged to address them

Tim Buck knows by heart how many people died from drug overdoses in his North Carolina county last year: 10. The year before it was 12 — an all-time high.

12 Dec 2022

Buprenorphine prescription remained constant during the first year of COVID-19 pandemic

The number of active prescriptions for the opioid disorder treatment drug buprenorphine remained constant during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the number of new prescriptions for the treatment was far below what would normally have been expected, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

7 Dec 2022

Self-service vending machine filled with harm reduction supplies helps prevent overdoses

More than 107,000 Americans died from drug overdose in 2021, highlighting the need for evidence-based interventions.

6 Dec 2022

Drug overdose deaths reach a record high among pregnant and postpartum women, study reveals

Drug overdose deaths among pregnant and postpartum women increased more than 180 percent in the past five years, according to a new study conducted at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

6 Dec 2022

Discontinuation of opioid therapy for pain may increase overdose risk

Opioid-related overdose is now a leading cause of accidental death in the United States and Canada. A study published December 1st in the open access journal PLOS Medicine by Mary Clare Kennedy at University of British Columbia, Kelowna, Canada, and colleagues suggests discontinuing prescribed opioids was associated with increased overdose risk.

1 Dec 2022

Addiction treatment proponents urge rural clinicians to pitch in by prescribing medication

Andrea Storjohann is glad to see that she's becoming less of a rarity in rural America.

1 Dec 2022

COVID-19 lockdown did not cause a mass surge in dispensing of opioids, study finds

While some feared that New Yorkers would re-fill prescriptions to stockpile opioid medications in the early weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown much in the way people hoarded toilet paper, in fact, New York State opioid prescriptions declined in the period around the March 20, 2020 "PAUSE" order, according to new research.

28 Nov 2022

Government introduces a Vaccine Taskforce style approach to tackle public health challenges in the UK

NHS patients are set to benefit from cutting-edge new treatments and technologies as the government introduces a Vaccine Taskforce style approach to tackling some of the biggest public health challenges facing the UK.

27 Nov 2022

Young people treated for sleep disorders with benzodiazepines may be at higher risk of overdose

Teens and young adults who are treated for sleep disorders with benzodiazepines such as Xanax – a medication commonly prescribed to treat anxiety and insomnia – may be at a higher risk of overdose, according to Rutgers researchers.

23 Nov 2022

Schools, sheriffs, and syringes: State plans vary for spending $26B in opioid settlement funds

With more than 200 Americans still dying of drug overdoses each day, states are beginning the high-stakes task of deciding how to spend billions of dollars in settlement funds from opioid manufacturers and distributors.

22 Nov 2022

The player-coaches of addiction recovery work without boundaries

Sarah Wright stops by her peer support specialist's hotel room-turned-office in this Denver suburb several times a day.

16 Nov 2022

New fentanyl vaccine could prevent deadly opioid from entering the brain

A research team led by the University of Houston has developed a vaccine targeting the dangerous synthetic opioid fentanyl that could block its ability to enter the brain, thus eliminating the drug's "high."

14 Nov 2022

Fentanyl in high school: A Texas community grapples with the reach of the deadly opioid

The hallways of Lehman High School looked like any other on a recent fall day. Its 2,100 students talked and laughed as they hurried to their next classes, moving past walls covered with flyers that advertised homecoming events, clubs, and football games.

10 Nov 2022

Updated CDC guidelines for prescribing opioids

The United States Centers CDC updated their clinical practice guidelines for opioid prescription in pain management.

8 Nov 2022

Rheumatoid arthritis patients taking opioids have twice the risk of venous thromboembolism

New research presented this week at ACR Convergence 2022, the American College of Rheumatology's annual meeting, found that adult RA patients starting opioids had twice the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) compared to patients starting nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).