Opioids News and Research

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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.

Study: OEND effectively addresses epidemic of fatal opioid overdose

In a study of communities in Massachusetts with high numbers of opioid overdose deaths, the implementation of overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) was associated with a significant reduction in opioid overdose death rates.

2 Feb 2013

QrxPharma to resubmit MOXDUO NDA with FDA

QRxPharma Limited announced today that the steps necessary for approval of immediate release MOXDUO have been clarified with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

17 Jan 2013

Acetaminophen may improve postoperative outcomes

Prophylactically administered intravenous acetaminophen could reduce postoperative nausea and vomiting, research suggests.

16 Jan 2013

Viewpoints: Health law's 'sticker shock;' Changing Medicare eligibility age is not a simple solution

President Obama said a fair bit during the fiscal-cliff negotiations-;speaking for 45 minutes in one 50-minute meeting, for example-;but today let's zero in on the claim he kept repeating: "We don't have a spending problem. We have a health-care problem." For our money-;and yours-;those are two of the most remarkable sentences our Orator in Chief has ever strung together.

15 Jan 2013

Cubist seeks FDA sNDA approval for ENTEREG to accelerate GI recovery

Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBST) today announced that it has submitted a supplemental new drug application (sNDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requesting approval for the use of ENTEREG® (alvimopan) to accelerate GI recovery following any surgery that includes a bowel resection with primary anastomosis; expanded from the current indication in patients requiring surgery for colorectal disease.

21 Dec 2012

Accidental exposure to buprenorphine can make children extremely sick

Buprenorphine is a safe and effective drug for treating opioid addiction. But as the prescribed use of buprenorphine has dramatically increased in recent years, accidental exposure of children to the drug has risen sharply, placing them at risk for serious injury and in extremely rare cases even death, according to researchers at the Utah Poison Control Center (UPCC), U School of Medicine's Department of Family and Preventive Health, and the Utah Department of Health (UDOH).

15 Dec 2012

Opioids already in the body can enhance malignant tendencies of human cancer cells

A study led by University of Chicago researcher Patrick A. Singleton, Ph.D. and published in the journal Anesthesiology has shown that, even without the addition of further opioids such as morphine, opioids already in the body can enhance the malignant tendencies of human cancer cells.

13 Dec 2012

Responsible Opioid Prescribing eBook from FSMB Foundation

The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) Foundation announced today its publication of an eBook edition of "Responsible Opioid Prescribing: A Clinician's Guide" for Kindles, Nooks, iPads and other popular platforms.

13 Dec 2012

Prescribing opioids lead to admissions for substance abuse treatment and deaths

A Viewpoint article published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that the clinical practice of prescribing amphetamines, opioids, and benzodiazepines to treat chronic pain may be contributing to the increase in fatal drug overdoses and the likelihood that those drugs will be diverted to the illegal market.

6 Dec 2012

Prevalence of mental health diagnoses increases with long duration of opioid use

Most patients taking opioids for low back pain or other pain syndromes are prescribed low-to moderate doses, but a substantial number are given higher doses. Although there is no consensus on an absolute limit because tolerance varies over time among individual patients, what is known, however, is higher does are associated with elevated risks for side effects, addiction, overdoses and death.

28 Nov 2012

Personality traits linked with individual's susceptibility to placebo effect from pain medicines

Personality traits might do more than help you win a popularity contest. According to new University of Michigan-led neuroscience research, co-authored by University of Maryland (UM) School of Dentistry Dean Christian S. Stohler, DMD, DrMedDent, such traits also might make you more likely to get pain relief from a placebo - a fake medicine.

17 Nov 2012

Study examines public health impact of tamper resistant extended-release oxycodone

This is the first epidemiological study to examine the public health impact of a tamper resistant extended-release oxycodone (ORF). ER oxycodone was reformulated with physicochemical barriers to crushing and dissolving intended to reduce abuse through non-oral routes of administration.

16 Nov 2012

Anesthetic choice may not be critical in noncardiac surgery

The choice of general anesthetic does not appear to influence the risk for myocardial infarction in patients undergoing noncardiac surgery, report researchers.

14 Nov 2012

AcelRx commences dosing in ARX-04 sufentanil NanoTab Phase 2 study for acute and breakthrough pain

AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapies for the treatment of acute and breakthrough pain, today announced that it has dosed the first subjects in a Phase 2, placebo-controlled, dose-finding study of its ARX-04 sufentanil NanoTab product candidate.

5 Nov 2012

TD-1211 may relieve opioid-induced constipation

TD-1211 – an inhibitor of the mµ-opioid receptor – alleviates chronic noncancer-related constipation in patients receiving opioid therapy, without affecting pain relief, show the results of a parallel-group study.

2 Nov 2012

Sedation interruption does not reduce mechanical ventilation duration

Daily sedative interruption of mechanically ventilated patients in intensive care units does not reduce the time they are on ventilation or improve their clinical outcomes, report researchers in JAMA.

29 Oct 2012

Medical practice evolves: Prescribing habits, doc-patient relationship, health law changes

A push to treat chronic pain and financial disincentives for treating addiction may pressure clinicians into prescribing opioids for patients who are already addicted, a researcher suggested.

26 Oct 2012

Medication at end of life indicates care quality

Medication given to patients at the end of life varies according to whether they are being cared for in a hospice or hospital, and has the potential to indicate the quality of their care, suggest researchers.

24 Oct 2012

Daily sedation interruption does not benefit critically ill, mechanically ventilated patients

For critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilation, daily sedation interruption did not reduce the duration of mechanical ventilation or appear to offer any benefit to patients, and may have increased both sedation and analgesic use and nurse workload, according to a study appearing in JAMA.

19 Oct 2012

HIV transmission can be reduced by using opioid substitution treatments instead of injection drug use

People who inject drugs (PWID) can significantly reduce their risk of HIV infection with the use of opiate substitution treatments such as methadone, as suggested by an international team of researchers in a paper published today on bmj.com.

5 Oct 2012