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Naloxone provides life-saving tool to reverse opioid overdoses

Anyone can save a life during an opioid overdose with naloxone, a front-line defense in the nation's overdose crisis.

16 Jun 2026

Inside the battle for the future of addiction medicine

Elyse Stevens had a reputation for taking on complex medical cases. People who'd been battling addiction for decades. Chronic-pain patients on high doses of opioids. Sex workers and people living on the street.

7 Jan 2026

Over-the-counter pain relievers outperform opioids after wisdom tooth extraction

Over-the-counter pain medications work as well or better than opioids after wisdom tooth extraction for both men and women, according to a Rutgers Health-led follow-up to a landmark paper on comparative pain relief.

6 Nov 2025

Common painkiller and antidepressant combo may increase seizure risk in older adults

When older adults living in nursing homes are prescribed the pain medicine tramadol alongside certain antidepressants, their risk of seizures may go up, according to a study published October 8, 2025, in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

8 Oct 2025

Study identifies populations at risk for high-dose opioid prescriptions

Researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine have shed light on what populations are more likely to be prescribed a high dose of opioid medication. This increases their risk of developing opioid use disorder.

21 May 2025

Co-prescribing stimulants and opioids may fuel the twin epidemic of overdose

The combination of prescribed central nervous system stimulants, such as drugs that relieve ADHD symptoms, with prescribed opioid medications is associated with a pattern of escalating opioid intake, a new study has found.

22 Feb 2025

Non-opioid pain relief proven more effective after wisdom teeth removal

A combination of acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) controls pain after wisdom tooth removal better than opioids, according to a Rutgers Health study that could change how dentists treat post-surgical pain.

6 Jan 2025

Researchers discover how rare cell type controls scar tissue formation in spinal cord injuries

After a spinal cord injury, nearby cells quickly rush to action, forming protective scar tissue around the damaged area to stabilize and protect it.

18 Sep 2024

Exploring opioid prescription trends in chronic cough treatment

Chronic cough, with symptoms lasting more than eight weeks, affects approximately one in 10 adults. Cough is among the most common reasons for seeking medical care in the United States, yet chronic cough is difficult to treat. One of the largest studies of chronic cough and one of the first to explore the use of opioids, which are known to suppress cough, to treat these patients, has found that 20 percent of patients with chronic cough received a prescription for a cough suppressant containing an opioid.

23 Aug 2024

Study shows how segregated communities face challenges in filling OUD medications

Patients with a prescription for an opioid use disorder medication may have a tough time getting it filled if their pharmacy is in a community that's racially and economically segregated, according to a new study led by scientists at Oregon State University and Johns Hopkins University.

14 Aug 2024

West Virginia city once battered by opioid overdoses confronts ‘fourth wave’

From 2006 through 2014, more than 81 million painkiller pills were shipped to this city and surrounding rural Cabell County.

13 Mar 2024

DNA aptamer-based sensors can accurately detect trace amounts of fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new generation of high-performance DNA aptamers and highly accurate drug sensors for cocaine and other opioids.

5 Mar 2024

Association of volatile aromatic compounds in blood with hearing impairment

The impact of benzene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BEX) exposure on auditory health.

1 Mar 2024

Study shows decline in post-surgery opioid prescriptions, but urges continued efforts

Post-surgery pain relief has shifted away from opioid-containing medications over the past seven years, but the downward trend has slowed since 2020, a new study shows.

7 Dec 2023

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

Manufacturers and suppliers influence how pharmacies buy, distribute opioid prescriptions, study finds

In today's post-pandemic world, strained global supply chains have emerged as a new norm. But in the case of prescription opioids, namely oxycodone and hydrocodone in the early 2000s, that supply chain flowed freely without any kinks.

7 Jun 2022

Study shows how a non-opioid approach successfully manages women's pain after C-section

For years, women recovering from cesarean section (C-section) deliveries have been given devices that let them, with a button, control the flow of opioid painkillers into their IV line. But as researchers and policymakers push to curb the use of opioids, clinicians are developing new strategies for treating pain after C-sections.

3 May 2022

At a Tennessee crossroads, two pharmacies, a monkey, and millions of pills

It was about 1 a.m. on April 19, 2016, when a burglary alarm sounded at Dale Hollow Pharmacy in Celina, a tiny town in the rolling, wooded hills near the Kentucky border.

29 Mar 2022

Research shows intergenerational effects of preconception opioids in male offspring rats

New research from scientists at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University suggests opioid use before pregnancy - even if not used during pregnancy itself - could result in a higher likelihood that a mother's male offspring will develop type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, conditions that increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.

28 Feb 2022

Persistent opioid use among 12% of patients after cardiac implantable electronic device procedures

About 12 percent of patients who receive implantable cardiac devices such as a pacemaker or defibrillator and fill an opioid prescription after surgery will consistently use the pain medication in the months afterward, raising the potential for addiction following these common procedures and identifying another pathway that could contribute to the national opioid crisis, according to a new study by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

26 Nov 2021