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Riverview Medical Center receives $120,000 to support addition of Addictions Counselor in the hospital

Riverview Medical Center Foundation is honored to announce a gift of $120,000 from the Tigger House Foundation that will support the addition of an Addictions Counselor in the hospital's emergency department.

5 Aug 2016

Study finds high rate of misuse of seizure and pain drug

With increasing public attention to overdose deaths and misuse of prescription medications in the United States, researchers today presented the results of a new study looking at abuse and misuse of gabapentin, a medication used to treat seizures and relieve nerve pain often associated with shingles.

3 Aug 2016

NABP report points rogue internet drug outlets serve as dealers to people purchasing controlled substances

Today, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) released its Internet Drug Outlet Identification Program Progress Report for State and Federal Regulators: July 2016.

30 Jul 2016

CVS Health to make opioid overdose-reversing drug more affordable for patients without insurance

CVS Health and Adapt Pharma today announced a new partnership that will make the opioid overdose-reversing drug NARCAN (Naloxone HCl) Nasal Spray more affordable for patients without insurance at CVS Pharmacy locations.

30 Jul 2016

Simple, inexpensive psychotherapy treatment as effective as CBT for treating depression in adults

A simple and inexpensive psychotherapy or talking therapy known as behavioural activation (BA) is as effective at treating depression in adults as the gold-standard cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and can be delivered by non-specialist staff with minimal training at far less cost, according to new research published in The Lancet.

25 Jul 2016

Patients with cLBP more likely to use illicit drugs, study reports

People living with chronic low back pain (cLBP) are more likely to use illicit drugs -- including marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine -- compared to those without back pain, reports a study in Spine, published by Wolters Kluwer.

21 Jul 2016

Buprenorphine implants could be effective option to treat adults with opioid dependence

While buprenorphine has long been used to treat adults with opioid dependence, its efficacy can be hindered by lack of adherence to daily, sublingual (beneath the tongue) doses of the medication.

19 Jul 2016

Research highlights global burden of HIV and other infectious diseases among prisoners and detainees

Prisoners and detainees worldwide have higher burdens of HIV, viral hepatitis and tuberculosis than the communities from which they come, and the regular cycling of infected people in and out of incarceration is worsening the epidemics both inside and outside of prison, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health-led research suggests.

15 Jul 2016

Policies restricting opioid prescriptions could harm pain patients, suggests review

A recent review and analysis suggests that some policies restricting opioid prescriptions to curb overdose deaths could be harming those who need them the most: pain patients.

13 Jul 2016

Programs to prevent prescription drug misuse may be underused, study reveals

Misuse of prescription pain medications remains a major public health problem -- but programs to prevent it may be underused, according to a study in the July issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

29 Jun 2016

Natural molecule NAC could benefit patients with Parkinson's disease

The natural molecule, n-acetylcysteine (NAC), with strong antioxidant effects, shows potential benefit as part of the management for patients with Parkinson's disease, according to a study published today in the journal PLOS ONE.

17 Jun 2016

Opioid use common among Medicare beneficiaries after hospital discharge

Nearly 15 percent of opioid-naïve patients hospitalized under Medicare are discharged with a new prescription for opioids, according to a study published today in JAMA Internal Medicine.

15 Jun 2016

New survey reveals more than half of patients prescribed opioids have leftover pills

In the midst of an epidemic of prescription painkiller addiction and overdose deaths, a new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health survey suggests that more than half of patients prescribed opioids have leftover pills -- and many save them to use later.

14 Jun 2016

Study identifies persistent opioid use in some patients after knee or hip replacement

Many patients undergoing hip or knee replacement are still taking prescription opioid pain medications up to six months after surgery, reports a study in PAIN, the official publication of the International Association for the Study of Pain.

1 Jun 2016

Reducing use of opioid medications possible, but challenging

A team of researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System recently surveyed patients to understand barriers to reducing the use of opioids to manage chronic pain. The results of those interviews are published in the current issue of the journal Pain Medicine.

28 May 2016

Inadequate monitoring places post-operative patients at risk for opioid-induced respiratory depression

Nearly 75 percent of hospitalized patients receiving opioids for pain management are not monitored according to hospital guidelines.

28 May 2016

Pharmacist suggests education as foremost strategy to control opioid abuse

Technologies that make it harder for people to abuse opioids - like doctoring pills so that they produce unpleasant side effects if broken, crushed or injected -- likely will have limited effectiveness in stemming the global epidemic of opioid abuse, according to Adam Kaye, a professor of pharmacy at University of the Pacific.

28 May 2016

New understanding of neurotransmitter transporter mechanism gives hope for treating depression, addicition

When nerve cells have to communicate with each other in our brains, it involves release of small signal molecules, the so-called neurotransmitters, which act as chemical messengers in specific points of contact between nerve cells, called synapses.

27 May 2016

First buprenorphine implant for opioid dependence treatment gets FDA approval

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Probuphine, the first buprenorphine implant for the maintenance treatment of opioid dependence. Probuphine is designed to provide a constant, low-level dose of buprenorphine for six months in patients who are already stable on low-to-moderate doses of other forms of buprenorphine, as part of a complete treatment program.

27 May 2016

Antidote-resistant overdose patients may have received synthetic opioid W-18, suspects anesthesiologist

Months ago, ASRA member and anesthesiologist Anita Gupta, MD, suspected overdose patients had received heroin spiked with a synthetic opioid additive because they were not responding to the antidote, naloxone, routinely used by emergency workers.

25 May 2016

Overdose News and Research

Riverview Medical Center receives $120,000 to support addition of Addictions Counselor in the hospital

Study finds high rate of misuse of seizure and pain drug

NABP report points rogue internet drug outlets serve as dealers to people purchasing controlled substances

CVS Health to make opioid overdose-reversing drug more affordable for patients without insurance

Simple, inexpensive psychotherapy treatment as effective as CBT for treating depression in adults

Patients with cLBP more likely to use illicit drugs, study reports

Buprenorphine implants could be effective option to treat adults with opioid dependence

Research highlights global burden of HIV and other infectious diseases among prisoners and detainees

Policies restricting opioid prescriptions could harm pain patients, suggests review

Programs to prevent prescription drug misuse may be underused, study reveals

Natural molecule NAC could benefit patients with Parkinson's disease

Opioid use common among Medicare beneficiaries after hospital discharge

New survey reveals more than half of patients prescribed opioids have leftover pills

Study identifies persistent opioid use in some patients after knee or hip replacement

Reducing use of opioid medications possible, but challenging

Inadequate monitoring places post-operative patients at risk for opioid-induced respiratory depression

Pharmacist suggests education as foremost strategy to control opioid abuse

New understanding of neurotransmitter transporter mechanism gives hope for treating depression, addicition

First buprenorphine implant for opioid dependence treatment gets FDA approval

Antidote-resistant overdose patients may have received synthetic opioid W-18, suspects anesthesiologist

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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