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New statewide program in North Dakota aims to stem opioid misuse

Preliminary estimates released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show a nearly 7 percent increase in drug overdoses in 2017, with more than 72,000 deaths. Of the total deaths, almost 68 percent of them were tied to opioid use. A new statewide program in North Dakota called ONE Rx aims to stem opioid misuse by increasing awareness when patients first fill an opioid prescription.

17 Aug 2018

New modeling studies highlight urgent need for effective drug policy reforms to prevent HIV

While global incidence rates of HIV have declined notably in recent years, the virus that causes AIDS remains a major and, in some ways largely unmitigated, public health threat in some countries and regions.

17 Aug 2018

Advances in treating hep C lead to new option for transplant patients

After her kidneys failed from the same illness that took the lives of her mother and brother, Anne Rupp went on dialysis in May 2016, spending three hours a day, three times a week undergoing the blood-cleaning procedure. She hated it.

13 Aug 2018

College students may experience pressures from secondary exposure to opioid abuse

About one in five college students reported in a survey that they knew someone who was addicted to pain medications, and nearly a third said they knew somebody who overdosed on painkillers or heroin, according to a team of undergraduate Penn State Lehigh Valley researchers.

13 Aug 2018

Clinicians who learn of a patient’s opioid death modestly cut back on prescriptions

Physicians and other medical providers modestly reduced the volume of opioids they prescribed after being told one of their patients had died of an overdose, according to research published Thursday.

10 Aug 2018

Physicians who come to know about overdose deaths reduce opioid prescription

Will clinicians become more careful in prescribing opioids if they are made of aware of the risks of these drugs first-hand?

10 Aug 2018

FDA issues scientific recommendations to encourage development of novel drugs for treatment of OUD

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued new scientific recommendations aimed at encouraging more widespread innovation and development of novel medication-assisted treatment drugs for the treatment of opioid use disorder.

7 Aug 2018

Doctors reckon with high rate of suicide in their ranks

Alarms go off so frequently in emergency rooms, doctors barely notice. And then a colleague is wheeled in on a gurney, clinging to life, and that alarm becomes a deafening wake-up call.

3 Aug 2018

Mushrooms from the Far East area could be used to design novel anti-cancer drugs

Mushrooms from the Far East area contain the natural chemical compounds, which could be used for the design of the novel drugs with highly specific anti-tumor activities and low-toxicity.

2 Aug 2018

How rival opioid makers sought to cash in on alarm over oxycontin’s dangers

As Purdue Pharma faced mounting criticism over deaths linked to OxyContin, rival drugmakers saw a chance to boost sales by stepping up marketing of similarly dangerous painkillers, such as fentanyl, morphine and methadone, Purdue internal documents reveal.

2 Aug 2018

Patients with chronic pain feel caught in an opioid-prescribing debate

It started with a rolled ankle during a routine Army training exercise. Shannon Hubbard never imagined it was the prologue to one of the most debilitating pain conditions known to exist, called complex regional pain syndrome.

1 Aug 2018

FSMB partners with NAM to form Action Collaborative on countering opioid epidemic

In recognition of the need for a national coordinated and collective response to the epidemic of opioid addiction in the U.S., the Federation of State Medical Boards is partnering with the National Academy of Medicine and 35 organizations to form the Action Collaborative on Countering the U.S. Opioid Epidemic.

1 Aug 2018

New findings suggest opportunity to focus on safe opioid use and disposal among older adults

Nearly a third of older adults have received a prescription for an opioid pain medicine in the past two years, but many of them didn't get enough counseling about the risks that come with the potent painkillers, how to reduce their use, when to switch to a non-opioid option, or what to do with leftover pills, a new poll finds.

30 Jul 2018

New opioid prescription control framework is a 'funhouse mirror image' of prior monopoly

A rise in addiction and overdose deaths involving opioids in the United States has spurred a series of initiatives focused on reducing opioid risks, including several related to prescription of opioids in care of pain.

25 Jul 2018

Former inmates more likely to die of opioid overdose after prison release

A recent study in North Carolina found that in the first two weeks after being released from prison, former inmates were 40 times more likely to die of an opioid overdose than someone in the general population.

23 Jul 2018

Recovery United to launch pilot intervention program for patients who experienced opioid overdose

Today, Recovery United, Inc. announced the launch of a pilot intervention program at three Boise-area hospitals that will connect patients who have experienced an opioid overdose to certified peer recovery coaches

20 Jul 2018

Studies highlight issues regarding black lung, opioid overdose, police violence and more

This study found the national prevalence of coal worker's pneumoconiosis (black lung) is increasing among working coal miners. In central Appalachia, 20.6 percent of miners working more than 25 years have black lung disease.

20 Jul 2018

A simple pill for meth addicts on the cards

Researchers from Australia's Curtin University have developed a simple pill that could be used to treat methamphetamine addicts. It would soon be tried in a clinical trial to prove its efficacy and utility said the researchers.

18 Jul 2018

High opioid doses, concurrent sedative use are key factors for overdose risk in Medicaid recipients

Among Medicaid recipients taking prescription opioids, high opioid doses and concurrent treatment with benzodiazepine sedatives are among the key, potentially modifiable risk factors for fatal overdose, reports a study in the August issue of Medical Care.

13 Jul 2018

Opioid patients face several barriers to treatment, study finds

In areas of the country disproportionately affected by the opioid crisis, treatment programs are less likely to accept patients paying through insurance of any type or accept pregnant women, a new Vanderbilt study found.

12 Jul 2018