Heroin News and Research

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Heroin is a very addictive chemical called diacetylmorphine. Heroin is a modified form of morphine, a highly abundant opium derived from the seedpods of the poppy plant.

BDSI announces FDA approval of BUNAVAIL sNDA for manufacturing specification change

BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the company's Supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for a manufacturing specification change for BUNAVAIL (buprenorphine and naloxone) buccal film (CIII).

15 Oct 2015

FDA accepts Braeburn's resubmission of Probuphine NDA for review

Braeburn Pharmaceuticals, an Apple Tree Partners company, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted Braeburn's resubmission of the Probuphine New Drug Application (NDA) for review and set February 27, 2016 as the target date for Agency action.

28 Sep 2015

New treatment protocol can improve outcomes for babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome

A new protocol to treat babies born in withdrawal from drugs can be used widely to improve outcomes for these babies. The protocol reduces length of stay and the duration of treatment with opioids that are used therapeutically to wean babies off of drugs.

14 Sep 2015

Two St. Louis institutions collaborate to create Center for Clinical Pharmacology

St. Louis College of Pharmacy and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are joining forces to find better, safer and more effective ways to use prescription medications to improve health. Researchers from the two institutions are collaborating to create the Center for Clinical Pharmacology.

14 Sep 2015

Psychosis, hepatitis C infection are greatest risk factors for mortality in marginalized Vancouver residents

Marginalized residents of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside are dying at more than eight times the national average, and treatable conditions are the greatest risk factors for mortality, researchers at the University of British Columbia have found.

11 Sep 2015

Research findings may help explain why drug treatments for addiction, depression are not always effective

New research may help explain why drug treatments for addiction and depression don't work for some patients. The conditions are linked to reward and aversion responses in the brain. Working in mice, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered brain pathways linked to reward and aversion behaviors are in such close proximity that they unintentionally could be activated at the same time.

3 Sep 2015

One in every 17 college students smokes marijuana on daily or near-daily basis

Daily marijuana use among the nation's college students is on the rise, surpassing daily cigarette smoking for the first time in 2014.

1 Sep 2015

Fentanyl sold as heroin causing new wave of overdose deaths

With the heroin epidemic in the United States reaching deadlier heights, Jacksonville-based Lakeview Health drug and alcohol treatment center's Dr. Philip Hemphill is helping to explain why fentanyl is causing a new wave of overdoses. Because Fentanyl is approximately 40 to 50 times more potent than pharmaceutical grade heroin and often illegally purchased unknowingly by recreational users as heroin, the risk of death skyrockets.

29 Aug 2015

Researchers evaluate use of pharmacy-based naloxone education and distribution to fight opioid overdoses

In response to the growing opioid crisis, several states, including Massachusetts and Rhode Island, have granted pharmacists the authority to provide naloxone rescue kits without a prescription to at-risk patients. This model of pharmacy-based naloxone (PBN) education and distribution is one of the public health strategies currently being evaluated at hundreds of pharmacies in both states to determine the impact on opioid overdose death rates.

25 Aug 2015

Growing availability of heroin changing the face of opiate addiction in the U.S.

The growing availability of heroin, combined with programs aimed at curbing prescription painkiller abuse, may be changing the face of opiate addiction in the U.S., according to sociologists.

18 Aug 2015

Urban emergency department sees high rates of HCV infection among intravenous drug users, Baby Boomers

An urban emergency department that set up a hepatitis C testing protocol saw high rates of infection among intravenous drug users and Baby Boomers, with three-quarters of those testing positive unaware they were infected.

7 Aug 2015

Nonmedical use of prescription opioids increasing among young adults

The nonmedical use of prescription opioids (POs) has become an area of increasing public health concern in the United States and rates of use are particularly high among young adults. In the past decade, an emerging "epidemic" of nonmedical PO use has been reported.

5 Aug 2015

Research shows specific routes of administration can predict risk of drug addiction

Abstinence is the best way to avoid drug addiction. But in many societies, drug use is the norm, not the exception, especially by youth.

3 Aug 2015

Study demonstrates that stress hormone cortisol can reduce heroin cravings

Every addiction is characterized by a strong desire for a certain addictive substance, be it nicotine, alcohol or other drug. Researchers at the University of Basel in Switzerland recently conducted a study on heroin addiction and demonstrated that the stress hormone cortisol can reduce addictive cravings.

29 Jul 2015

Drug addiction expert uncovers molecular mechanisms that contribute to addiction resistance

Growing up in West Virginia, Jill Turner saw firsthand the kind of havoc that drug addiction can wreak. "I had a lot of friends who had very promising lives and promising careers ahead of them," the assistant professor in the South Carolina College of Pharmacy says, "but they ended up either overdosing or going to jail for drug-related stuff. It's one of the reasons I went into drug addiction research."

22 Jul 2015

Opioid prescribing guidelines that focus high-dose use may need revision, say researchers

Overdoses of opioid pain medications frequently occur in people who aren't chronic users with high prescribed opioid doses--the groups targeted by current opioid prescribing guidelines, reports a study in the August issue of Medical Care.

16 Jul 2015

Study examines self-reported use of bath salts among high school seniors in the U.S.

Recent years have seen an unprecedented growth in number and availability of new synthetic psychoactive drugs in the US and worldwide. In 2014, 101 new psychoactive drugs were identified, worldwide. Such drugs are often sold as "legal" highs or "research chemicals" over the internet or in head shops. Among these new drugs, "bath salts" appear to be one of the more commonly used in the US.

16 Jul 2015

Research findings may help health care providers curb painkiller misuse

People who misuse prescription pain relievers all have one thing in common, University of Georgia researchers have discovered: a history of recent illicit drug use. How they acquire such drugs varies according to age, however.

12 Jul 2015

Study explores link between medical marijuana ads and youth behavior

Adolescents who saw advertising for medical marijuana were more likely to either report using marijuana or say they planned to use the substance in the future, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

7 Jul 2015

1 in 4 people with histories of nicotine use, substance abuse likely to use opioid painkillers long-term

Opioid painkiller addiction and accidental overdoses have become far too common across the United States. To try to identify who is most at risk, Mayo Clinic researchers studied how many patients prescribed an opioid painkiller for the first time progressed to long-term prescriptions. The answer: 1 in 4. People with histories of tobacco use and substance abuse were likeliest to use opioid painkillers long-term.

2 Jul 2015