Methadone News and Research

RSS

Infants born in withdrawal due to opioid exposure in utero show abnormalities

A new study of infants born in withdrawal due to opioid exposure in utero shows a dramatic increase in torticollis - an abnormal twisting of the neck. Many of the infants also had plagiocephaly - a flattening of the head often seen in conjunction with torticollis.

22 Jan 2018

Rise in infants with physical abnormalities is linked to opioid exposure during pregnancy, finds study

New research finds a dramatic increase in physical abnormalities in newborns caused by opioid exposure during pregnancy.

22 Jan 2018

Efforts to reverse opioid epidemic remain beset by stigma

Efforts to reverse the nation's opioid epidemic remain beset by the stigma associated with drug use, a group of OHSU researchers write in a year-end review.

10 Jan 2018

Study characterizes effects of opioids on brain proteins other than opioid receptors

In a new study, researchers have characterized the effects of a series of opioids on proteins in the brain other than opioid receptors.

6 Dec 2017

Doctors make big money testing urine for drugs, then ignore abnormal results

In April 2014, state and federal drug agents raided Jeffrey Campbell's medical clinic in Jeffersonville, Ind. Police cars blocked the parking lot as bewildered patients scattered and the agents carted off boxes of records from the doctor's office.

29 Nov 2017

Researchers find link between negative emotions and higher opioid use in people with sickle cell disease

In a small study using data from daily electronic patient diaries, Johns Hopkins researchers say they have found a link between negative emotions, such as sadness and anxiety, and higher opioid use in people with sickle cell disease whose pain levels were self-reported as relatively low.

27 Nov 2017

Medicaid coverage for methadone could improve outcomes for pregnant women with OUD

Pregnant women with opioid use disorder (OUD) are more likely to receive evidence-based treatment with an "opioid agonist"- usually methadone- in states where those medications are covered by Medicaid, reports a study in the December issue of Medical Care, published by Wolters Kluwer.

14 Nov 2017

New inpatient program can be powerful tool to close gap in addiction treatment

A new program at Boston Medical Center's Grayken Center for Addiction is showing that connecting patients to addiction treatment when they are hospitalized for other conditions can be a powerful tool in closing a gap in addiction treatment.

8 Nov 2017

HCV screening or diagnosis could lower non‐prescribed opioid use

Research presented this week at The Liver Meeting – held by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases – shows people in treatment for opioid substance abuse significantly lowered their non‐prescribed opioid use after testing positive for hepatitis C virus.

20 Oct 2017

New study shows possibility of battling opioid addiction in primary care

For many of the 2 million Americans addicted to opioids, getting good treatment and getting off prescription painkillers or heroin may seem like a far-off dream.

17 Oct 2017

Medicare plans place few restrictions on coverage of prescription opioids, Yale study finds

Medicare plans place few restrictions on the coverage of prescription opioids, despite federal guidelines recommending such restrictions, a new Yale study finds. The research results highlight an untapped opportunity for Medicare formularies to limit opioid prescribing, the researchers said.

10 Oct 2017

Researchers use zebrafish animal model to explore drug-seeking behavior

As the opioid crisis escalates, the science behind addiction remains poorly understood. To address this need, researchers at University of Utah Health devised a system that allowed zebrafish, a small tropical fish, to self-administer doses of hydrocodone, an opioid commonly prescribed to people for pain.

26 Aug 2017

Dying at home in an opioid crisis: Hospices grapple with stolen meds

Nothing seemed to help the patient — and hospice staff didn't know why. They sent home more painkillers for weeks. But the elderly woman, who had severe dementia and incurable breast cancer, kept calling out in pain.

22 Aug 2017

New vaccine could offer protection against opioid combinations

Substance abuse is a continuing problem in the U.S., particularly with heroin and other opioids, to the point of being an epidemic.

21 Aug 2017

A long and winding road: Kicking heroin in an opioid ‘treatment desert’

Heather Menzel squirmed in her seat, unable to sleep on the Greyhound bus as it rolled through the early morning darkness toward Bakersfield, in California's Central Valley.

11 Aug 2017

Researchers explore why physicians underprescribe drug approved to treat opioid addiction

A drug approved for private physicians to treat opioid addiction is being underprescribed, and a survey of addiction specialists suggests that many of them are not willing to increase their use of it, despite an expanding opioid addiction epidemic in the United States, according to research presented at the 125th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association.

4 Aug 2017

Study finds sevenfold rise in prescription opioid use among fatally injured drivers

The percentage of fatally injured drivers who tested positive for prescription opioids rose sevenfold from 1 percent in 1995 to over 7 percent in 2015, according to a new study at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. The findings appear online in the American Journal of Public Health.

26 Jul 2017

Opioid use disorder rises with little being done to curb the menace says new study

A new study has found that more and more Americans are being diagnosed with opioid addiction and the numbers that receive treatment are still very few. This finding is consistent with earlier findings from Blue Cross Blue Shield when analyzing member data.

29 Jun 2017

Study highlights critical gap in addiction treatment for young people with OUD

Only one in four young adults and teens with opioid use disorder are receiving potentially life-saving medications for addiction treatment, according to a new Boston Medical Center study published online in JAMA Pediatrics.

19 Jun 2017

Medical responses to opioid addiction vary by state, analysis finds

Location, location, location. That mantra may apply even when it comes to how opioid addiction is treated.

12 Jun 2017