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Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opiate analgesic similar to but more potent than morphine. It is typically used to treat patients with severe pain, or to manage pain after surgery. It is also sometimes used to treat people with chronic pain who are physically tolerant to opiates. It is a schedule II prescription drug.

Opioids contribute to rise in suicides and overdoses in the U.S.

Suicides and drug overdoses kill American adults at twice the rate today as they did just 17 years ago, and opioids are a key contributor to that rise, according to a new review and analysis by a University of Michigan team.

7 Jan 2019

Study assesses when opioid overdose patients can be safely discharged after naloxone treatment

Naloxone has saved thousands of lives. But can patients be safely discharged from the Emergency Department (ED) just an hour after they receive the medication that curtails drug overdoses?

28 Dec 2018

Researchers discover extent of opioid use and abuse in head and neck cancer patients

Cancer patients are often prescribed pain medications, for example during recovery from surgical procedures. However, for many cancer patients, the use of opioid pain medications during treatment can be a gateway to misuse or addiction once treatment ends.

27 Dec 2018

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What the Health?’ Insurance enrollment is lagging — and there are lots of reasons why

With less than a week to go before the deadline in most states, enrollment in health insurance for 2019 under the Affordable Care Act is lagging compared with the pace of previous years. That was expected, given last year's tax law eliminated the tax penalty for not having coverage starting Jan. 1. But analysts say there are other reasons for the downturn as well.

14 Dec 2018

Fentanyl surpasses heroin in cause of U.S. drug overdose deaths

According to a new report from health officials, Fentanyl – a synthetic opioid drug, is surpassing heroin as cause of drug overdose deaths in the United States. The report was released 12th of December 2018 in the CDC’s National Vital Statistics Report.

13 Dec 2018

VCU researchers test vaccine against opioid abuse

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers are testing a vaccine against opioid abuse developed by the Scripps Research Institute in California. The vaccine is meant to block the effects of heroin and fentanyl in patients with opioid use disorder.

7 Dec 2018

Heroin-assisted treatment can offer benefits, reduce harms

Providing supervised access to medical-grade heroin to people whose use continues after trying multiple traditional treatments has been successful in other countries, and should be piloted and studied in the United States, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

6 Dec 2018

$People with Alzheimer’s disease using strong opioids have increased risk of hip fracture$

People with Alzheimer’s disease using strong opioids have increased risk of hip fracture

People using strong painkillers, opioids, have twice the risk of hip fracture compared to non-opioid users, a new study from the University of Eastern Finland shows. The risk was highest in the first two months of opioid use.

26 Nov 2018

Concomitant use of sleeping pills and opioids found to prevalent among people with Alzheimer’s disease

One in five people with Alzheimer's disease who use a benzodiazepine are also concomitant users of an opioid, according to a new study from the University of Eastern Finland.

19 Nov 2018

FDA warns against use of unapproved pain medications with implanted pumps

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today alerted health care providers and patients about the serious complications that can occur when using medications not approved for use with implanted pumps that deliver medication into the spinal fluid to treat or manage pain.

15 Nov 2018

Study finds rapid increase in overdose deaths involving amphetamines and methamphetamines

The number of overdose deaths involving methamphetamines and amphetamines in the state of Ohio increased more than 5,000 percent over the course of eight years, according to data collected by the Ohio Alliance for Innovation in Population Health.

7 Nov 2018

Cocaine overdoses on the rise with fentanyl combo flooding the market

According to the figures from Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) there has been a sharp up-rise in the cocaine overdose over the last two years. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has also said there has been an inflow of Columbian cocaine into the United States.

24 Oct 2018

FDA targets 465 websites that sell potentially dangerous, unapproved drugs

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in partnership with international regulatory and law enforcement agencies, acted this week to target 465 websites that illegally sell potentially dangerous, unapproved versions of opioid, oncology and antiviral prescription drugs to U.S. consumers.

23 Oct 2018

Researchers awarded grant to advance testing of experimental heroin vaccine

Researchers at the U.S. Military HIV Research Program at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, N.Y., have been awarded a grant to advance an experimental heroin vaccine through Phase I/IIa clinical trials to assess both its safety and its efficacy against a morphine challenge.

17 Oct 2018

Black market for suboxone gives some a glimpse of recovery

Months in prison didn’t rid Daryl of his addiction to opioids. “Before I left the parking lot of the prison, I was shooting up, getting high,” he said.

9 Oct 2018

Workers overdose on the job, and employers struggle to respond

Jimmy Sullivan prepared for his job as a bricklayer the same way every morning for years: injecting a shot of heroin before leaving his car.

28 Sep 2018

Scientists develop new protocol for measuring background levels of drugs in forensic labs

When crime lab chemists handle evidence that contains illegal drugs, trace amounts of those drugs are inevitably released into the laboratory environment.

27 Sep 2018

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What the Health?’ Health on the hill

As the start of the fiscal year draws near — along with pivotal midterm elections — Congress is picking up its pace on legislation. This week alone the Senate passed a comprehensive bill aimed at curbing the opioid epidemic and a nearly final bill to fund the Department of Health and Human Services.

20 Sep 2018

FDA takes new steps to address opioid crisis by approving Opioid Analgesic Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration took new steps as part of its broader efforts to address the opioid crisis by approving the final Opioid Analgesic Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy.

19 Sep 2018

Half as many people are trying heroin, but marijuana use grows

Some good news from the front lines of the heroin crisis: Half as many people tried heroin for the first time in 2017 as in 2016. That's according to data released Friday from the government's annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

14 Sep 2018