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Category 1 findings support robust abuse-deterrent features of Egalet-002 for management of severe pain

Egalet Corporation, a fully integrated specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing, manufacturing and marketing innovative pain treatments, today announced positive top-line results from Category 1 abuse-deterrent studies for Egalet-002, an abuse-deterrent, extended-release, oral oxycodone-based product in development for the management of pain severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock opioid treatment and for which alternative treatments are inadequate.

1 Jun 2015

Study shows differences in rates of paracetamol-linked acute liver failure among European countries

A fifty-fold between-country difference in rates of paracetamol-induced acute liver failure that leads to liver transplant (ALFT) has been revealed by a study that compared patient data from seven countries at the request of the European Medicines Agency: France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and the UK.

29 May 2015

Scripps Florida scientists win $2.4 million to expand development of new pain therapies

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have been awarded $2.4 million from the National Institute on Drug Abuse of The National Institutes of Health to expand development of new pain medications with fewer side effects than those currently available...

8 May 2015

Neonatal abstinence syndrome on the rise in U.S.

The number of infants born in the United States with drug withdrawal symptoms, also known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), nearly doubled in a four-year period. By 2012, one infant was born every 25 minutes in the U.S. with the syndrome, accounting for $1.5 billion in annual health care charges, according to a new Vanderbilt study published in the Journal of Perinatology.

30 Apr 2015

Emergency department-initiated treatment better than referrals for opioid-dependent patients

Yale researchers conducted the first known randomized trial comparing three treatment strategies for opioid-dependent patients receiving emergency care. They found that patients given the medication buprenorphine were more likely to engage in addiction treatment and reduce their illicit opioid use.

29 Apr 2015

Heroin-assisted treatments benefit some drug users

Drug users who do not benefit from conventional treatments for heroin addiction should be able to access the drug through the health system, urges a Canadian expert in The BMJ today.

16 Apr 2015

Oxycodone-related deaths drop 25% after implementation of Prescription Drug Monitoring Program

Oxycodone-related deaths dropped 25 percent after Florida implemented its Prescription Drug Monitoring Program in late 2011 as part of its response to the state's prescription drug abuse epidemic, according to a team of UF Health researchers. The drop in fatalities could stem from the number of health care providers who used the program's database to monitor controlled substance prescriptions.

16 Apr 2015

Study provides new estimates of opioid misuse, addiction

New estimates suggest that 20 to 30 percent of opioid analgesic drugs prescribed for chronic pain are misused, while the rate of opioid addiction is approximately 10 percent, reports a study in the April issue of PAIN, the official journal of the International Association for the Study of Pain.

31 Mar 2015

Mesenchymal stem cell transplantation reduces opioid tolerance, opioid-induced pain

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation reduced opioid tolerance and opioid-induced hyperalgesia caused by daily morphine injections in rats, according to new research.

25 Mar 2015

Young children, teens at risk for unintentional medicine poisoning

Nearly half of the 1.34 million calls to poison centers for children each year are related to medicine. In fact, every day, there are more than 1,100 calls about a young child getting into medicine or getting too much medicine.

18 Mar 2015

Accidental fentanyl exposure in children can be fatal

Infants and children are at a higher risk of accidental exposure to fentanyl patches—adhesive patches used to deliver higher doses of some opiates through the skin to relieve chronic pain.

4 Mar 2015

Prescription painkiller abuse: A worst drug overdose epidemic in history

The Centers for Disease Control calls prescription painkiller abuse "one of the worst drug overdose epidemics in history."

19 Feb 2015

Policymakers need to look beyond painkiller abuse to reduce opioid overdose deaths, say researchers

According to researchers at Brandeis University, the University of North Florida and Johns Hopkins University, policymakers must look beyond painkiller abuse, also called non-medical use, in their efforts to reduce opioid overdose deaths.

5 Feb 2015

Study findings could offer roadmap for preventing deaths from drug overdoses

Results from a new study show that participants in drug overdose education programs tend to be parents (mostly mothers) who provide financial support for their son/daughter, have daily contact with their loved one, have applied for court-mandated treatment and have witnessed an overdose.

2 Feb 2015

Older users of opioids more likely to become victim of homicide, shows study

Older users of opioids such as heroin are 27 times more likely to become a victim of homicide than the general population, a University of Manchester study of almost 200,000 users has found.

30 Jan 2015

Kaleo, CHMI partner to reduce prescription drug-related deaths

Kaleo, a privately-held pharmaceutical company, today announced a national strategic partnership with the Clinton Health Matters Initiative, an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, that will help support its goal of cutting prescription drug-related deaths in half, saving approximately 10,000 lives over five years.

27 Jan 2015

Use of methadone drug to treat pain increases mortality risk

Outside the hospital, use of methadone to treat pain carries a 46 percent increased risk of death when compared to the equally effective but more costly alternative, morphine SR (sustained release).

21 Jan 2015

New experimental study shows immunotherapy can reduce acute effects of heroin

Immunotherapy could have a place in the treatment of substance abuse in the future. A specific antibody can reduce the acute effects of heroin, according to a new experimental study at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

21 Jan 2015

European countries implement ATOME project to study improved access to essential painkillers

Governments in 12 European countries are to implement the recommendations of research into why more patients are not receiving essential painkillers.

15 Jan 2015

Individualized, patient-centered care needed to treat and monitor people with chronic pain

An independent panel convened by the National Institutes of Health concluded that individualized, patient-centered care is needed to treat and monitor the estimated 100 million Americans living with chronic pain. To achieve this aim, the panel recommends more research and development around the evidence-based, multidisciplinary approaches needed to balance patient perspectives, desired outcomes, and safety.

14 Jan 2015