Heroin News and Research

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Heroin is a very addictive chemical called diacetylmorphine. Heroin is a modified form of morphine, a highly abundant opium derived from the seedpods of the poppy plant.

BioDelivery Sciences receives approval of NDA for BUNAVAIL from FDA

BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. received approval of the New Drug Application (NDA) for BUNAVAIL™ (buprenorphine and naloxone) buccal film (CIII) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

9 Jun 2014

Many heroin users transitioned from prescription opioids, finds study

A research paper published in the May 28, 2014 issue of JAMA Psychiatry a paper entitled "The Changing Face of Heroin Use in the United States A Retrospective Analysis of the Past 50 Years" concluded that heroin abuse has left low-income urban areas and has become prevalent in more affluent suburbs and rural areas with mostly white populations.

5 Jun 2014

Community OOPPs can improve bystander responses to overdose of heroin

Community opioid overdose prevention programs (OOPPs)-including the use of naloxone for rapid drug reversal-can improve bystander responses to overdose of heroin and related drugs, according to a review in the June Journal of Addiction Medicine, the official journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

4 Jun 2014

State highlights: NYC mental health task force; Minn. seeks marijuana boss; N.C. disparities for gay community

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a new task force Monday to overhaul how New York City's corrections system treats the mentally ill -- both in jail and out -- following the grisly deaths of two inmates with psychological problems (6/2).

4 Jun 2014

First Edition: June 3, 2014

Today's headlines include coverage of Medicare data released Monday indicating that 2012 charges for some common inpatient hospital procedures dramatically increased over the previous year.

From Medtronic 3 Jun 2014

State highlights: NYC plan for treating mentally ill; Kan. town gets abortion services again; Iowa medical marijuana

Mayor Bill de Blasio has asked several of his commissioners and aides to provide him with a plan by September to reduce the rate of incarceration among New Yorkers with mental illness. The effort, which City Hall will announce on Monday, is the administration's first major criminal justice initiative. Named the Task Force on Behavioral Health and the Criminal Justice System, it will include recommendations from the police and correction commissioners, the Manhattan district attorney, hospital administrators and judges (Goldstein, 6/1).

3 Jun 2014

Research roundup: End-of-life preferences; surviving trauma when older; ACA's big waiver for states

Policies and practices that promote advance care planning and advance directive completion implicitly assume that patients' choices for end-of-life (EOL) care are stable over time, even with changes in health status.

31 May 2014

CMS says it won't review billings despite IG report that it overpays doctors

The move comes even as a report points at $6.7 billion in overspending in Medicare. The HHS inspector general also says that the program paid $457 million in 2012 to detect drugs after a sharp increase in prescription drug abuse.

31 May 2014

State highlights: Mental health funding in Kansas; EHR problems claim CEO's job; 'litany of woes' at IHS

A selection of health policy stories from Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, and Wyoming.

29 May 2014

State highlights: New abortion restrictions in Louisiana; aging gracefully in the Gopher State

A bill that could result in the shuttering of up to four of Louisiana's five abortion clinics overwhelmingly received full passage from the Louisiana Legislature Wednesday (May 21), and Gov. Bobby Jindal has indicated he will sign it into law. The legislation is, in part, based on a similar measure passed in Texas last year and led to the closing of several abortion clinics in that state. In its last legislative hurdle, the House concurred an amendment on Wednesday (May 21) that was added to the bill on the Senate side (Lane, 5/22).

23 May 2014

Braeburn announces new clinical trial for Probuphine based on clear guidance from FDA

Braeburn Pharmaceuticals announced today the initiation of a new clinical trial for Probuphine® based on clear guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The study, which was submitted for FDA review in mid-March, is expected to begin enrollment by mid-year and to be completed by the middle of 2015.

30 Apr 2014

Viewpoints: Boehner's 'truthful gaffe' on health law; Larry Kramer's AIDS crusade; costly drugs

Although "repeal and replace" has been the Republican position on Obamacare since 2010, "replace" has been there mainly because it polled well. Republicans were satisfied with the health-care status quo in 2009, and would have been glad to repeal Obamacare to return to it. As Steve Benen points out, Republicans voted for just-plain-repeal many times.

29 Apr 2014

HHS calls health care providers to expand use of medications to treat opioid addiction, reduce overdose deaths

A national response to the epidemic of prescription opioid overdose deaths was outlined yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine by leaders of agencies in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

26 Apr 2014

State highlights: Home care workers' pay and Medicaid budgets; Calif. mental health grants; NYU ER reopens

A new rule from the Obama administration designed to provide better pay and working conditions to 2 million home care workers is forcing many states to rethink how they look at Medicaid payments and may result in higher Medicaid costs. Starting Jan. 1, home care workers in 29 states will, for the first time, be eligible for the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and overtime pay, under a new regulation from the U.S. Department of Labor. These workers go to homes of the elderly and the disabled to help with cooking, bathing and other daily tasks, and are paid by the clients or through Medicaid (Prah, 4/25).

26 Apr 2014

Throw away your old medicines safely

Americans spend nearly $1,100 per person on prescription and over-the-counter medications every year, and much of it is left in cabinets, drawers, or forgotten.

17 Apr 2014

Viewpoints: Obamacare dilemma -- some people dislike the law but embrace its provisions; are health costs falling?

Polls have consistently shown that even though the public opposes Obamacare, people like some of its most significant provisions. That's particularly true of the requirement that insurers ignore preexisting conditions when signing up customers for coverage.

16 Apr 2014

Special Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation conference to focus on issues surrounding addiction

The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation's Professionals in Residence program in collaboration with the University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health and the Scaife Family Foundation will host a special conference June 20-21 in Minnesota for primary health care providers to learn more about the issues surrounding addiction.

11 Apr 2014

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