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An opioid is a chemical that works by binding to opioid receptors, which are found principally in the central nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract. The receptors in these two organ systems mediate both the beneficial effects and the side effects of opioids.

Unique pain program helps surgical patients wean off opioids safely and effectively

A unique pain program is helping complex surgical patients wean off opioids safely and effectively, while offering alternative ways to cope with their pain and improve how they function.

20 Aug 2018

Illicit drug use is higher during celebratory events, may be worse than previously thought

America's drug problem may be even worse than officials realize. And illicit drugs are consumed at a higher rate during celebratory events. Those are just two of the conclusions scientists have drawn from recent studies of drug residues in sewage.

20 Aug 2018

Babies dependent on opioids need touch, not tech

Dr. Jodi Jackson has worked for years to address infant mortality in Kansas. Often, that means she treats newborns in a high-tech neonatal intensive care unit with sophisticated equipment whirring and beeping. And that is exactly the wrong place for an infant like Lili.

20 Aug 2018

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

ACA's Medicaid expansion associated with increase in prescriptions for opioid use disorder treatment

Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was associated with an overall increase in people filling prescriptions for buprenorphine with naloxone, which is a treatment for opioid use disorder, as well as an increase in people filling prescriptions for opioid pain relievers (OPRs) paid for by Medicaid in a data analysis from five states.

17 Aug 2018

Federal advisory group publishes recommendations on prevention of acute, chronic pain

A University of Texas at Arlington professor led a federal advisory group that has published its recommendations on the prevention of acute and chronic pain to the Federal Research Pain Strategy, an interagency committee that oversees the government's long-term strategic plan to support pain research.

17 Aug 2018

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What the Health?’ See you in court!

A federal district court judge in Texas has set Sept. 10 as the date for oral arguments in a case filed by Republican state attorneys general and governors from 20 states.

17 Aug 2018

Clinical study shows how EarlySense system effectively detects opioid-induced respiratory depression

EarlySense, the market leader in contact-free continuous monitoring solutions across the care continuum, today announced that its system has been found to detect and alert for respiratory depression with high positive predictive value, according to a clinical poster presented at the 2018 American Thoracic Society Conference.

15 Aug 2018

Johns Hopkins expert panel develops first set of operation-specific opioid prescribing guidelines

A Johns Hopkins expert panel of health care providers and patients have announced what is, to their knowledge, the nation's first set of operation-specific opioid prescribing guidelines.

14 Aug 2018

Using peripheral nerve blocks to treat facial pain may produce long-term pain relief

A new study has shown that use of peripheral nerve blocks in the treatment of Trigeminal Neuralgia may produce long-term pain relief.

14 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

Painkiller prescriptions after wisdom tooth removal could set teens on path to long-term opioid use

Getting wisdom teeth removed may be a rite of passage for many teens and young adults, but the opioid painkiller prescriptions that many of them receive could set them on a path to long-term opioid use, a new study finds.

9 Aug 2018

As opioid crisis rages, some trade ‘tough love’ for empathy

It was Bea Duncan who answered the phone at 2 a.m. on a January morning. Her son Jeff had been caught using drugs in a New Hampshire sober home and was being kicked out.

8 Aug 2018

WVU researchers examine safety of Suboxone use in opioid-dependent pregnant women

Medications that physicians have traditionally prescribed to treat opioid use disorders-such as methadone and Subutex-can be misused by taking them in larger amounts than prescribed or by injecting them.

7 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

Animations show promise to effectively assess and monitor pain

To improve communication about pain between patients and physicians, a team led by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC has developed a mobile application called "Painimation" that has the potential to assess and monitor pain better than any previously used measurement tools.

6 Aug 2018

Probiotic use could result in disorienting brain fogginess and rapid belly bloating

Probiotic use can result in a significant accumulation of bacteria in the small intestine that can result in disorienting brain fogginess as well as rapid, significant belly bloating, investigators report.

6 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

Opioids News and Research

Further Reading

Unique pain program helps surgical patients wean off opioids safely and effectively

Illicit drug use is higher during celebratory events, may be worse than previously thought

Babies dependent on opioids need touch, not tech

New statewide program in North Dakota aims to stem opioid misuse

ACA's Medicaid expansion associated with increase in prescriptions for opioid use disorder treatment

Federal advisory group publishes recommendations on prevention of acute, chronic pain

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What the Health?’ See you in court!

Clinical study shows how EarlySense system effectively detects opioid-induced respiratory depression

Johns Hopkins expert panel develops first set of operation-specific opioid prescribing guidelines

Using peripheral nerve blocks to treat facial pain may produce long-term pain relief

College students may experience pressures from secondary exposure to opioid abuse

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

Physicians who come to know about overdose deaths reduce opioid prescription

Painkiller prescriptions after wisdom tooth removal could set teens on path to long-term opioid use

As opioid crisis rages, some trade ‘tough love’ for empathy

WVU researchers examine safety of Suboxone use in opioid-dependent pregnant women

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

Animations show promise to effectively assess and monitor pain

Probiotic use could result in disorienting brain fogginess and rapid belly bloating

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

Event guide: The Non-Opioid Pain Therapeutics Summit eBook

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