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Using multiple pharmacies to fill prescriptions associated with opioid overdoses

A study conducted in the state of Washington and reported in The Journal of Pain showed that almost half of deaths attributed to prescription opioids were Medicaid recipients, and using multiple pharmacies to fill prescriptions is linked with opioid overdoses.

2 Jul 2015

Educational messages about naloxone's lifesaving benefits can bolster support for its use

While most Americans do not support policies designed to increase distribution of naloxone - a medication that reverses the effects of a drug overdose - certain types of educational messages about its lifesaving benefits may bolster support for its use, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research suggests.

2 Jul 2015

New research could help reverse side effects of acetaminophen overdose

New research could help reverse deadly side effects caused by excessive doses of the drug acetaminophen, the major ingredient in Tylenol and many other over-the-counter and prescription medicines.

23 Jun 2015

New research looks at quickly expanding effort to equip law enforcement officers with naloxone

Opioid overdose is one of the leading causes of accidental death in the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the epidemic accounts for some 25,000 deaths per year--or approximately 68 fatalities per day.

17 Jun 2015

Veterans who died from drug overdoses also prescribed benzodiazepines for pain

In a recent study, nearly half of all veterans who died from drug overdoses while prescribed opioids for pain were also receiving benzodiazepines, or benzos, which are common medications for the treatment of anxiety, insomnia and alcohol withdrawal. Veterans prescribed higher doses of benzodiazepines while concurrently receiving opioids were at greater risk of overdose death than those on lower doses of benzodiazepines.

15 Jun 2015

Kaiser Permanente study identifies barriers to prescribing potentially life-saving medication

A variety of factors including questions about risk and reluctance to offend patients limits clinician willingness to prescribe a potentially life-saving medication that counteracts the effects of an opioid overdose, according to a Kaiser Permanente Colorado study published today in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

10 Jun 2015

Braeburn reports positive topline results from Probuphine Phase 3 study for treatment of opioid addiction

Braeburn Pharmaceuticals, an Apple Tree Partners company, today reported positive topline results from the Phase 3 double-blind, double-dummy clinical study of Probuphine, the investigational subdermal implant containing buprenorphine HCl for the long-term maintenance treatment of opioid addiction.

8 Jun 2015

Category 1 findings support robust abuse-deterrent features of Egalet-002 for management of severe pain

Egalet Corporation, a fully integrated specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing, manufacturing and marketing innovative pain treatments, today announced positive top-line results from Category 1 abuse-deterrent studies for Egalet-002, an abuse-deterrent, extended-release, oral oxycodone-based product in development for the management of pain severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock opioid treatment and for which alternative treatments are inadequate.

1 Jun 2015

Study shows differences in rates of paracetamol-linked acute liver failure among European countries

A fifty-fold between-country difference in rates of paracetamol-induced acute liver failure that leads to liver transplant (ALFT) has been revealed by a study that compared patient data from seven countries at the request of the European Medicines Agency: France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and the UK.

29 May 2015

Scripps Florida scientists win $2.4 million to expand development of new pain therapies

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have been awarded $2.4 million from the National Institute on Drug Abuse of The National Institutes of Health to expand development of new pain medications with fewer side effects than those currently available...

8 May 2015

Neonatal abstinence syndrome on the rise in U.S.

The number of infants born in the United States with drug withdrawal symptoms, also known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), nearly doubled in a four-year period. By 2012, one infant was born every 25 minutes in the U.S. with the syndrome, accounting for $1.5 billion in annual health care charges, according to a new Vanderbilt study published in the Journal of Perinatology.

30 Apr 2015

Emergency department-initiated treatment better than referrals for opioid-dependent patients

Yale researchers conducted the first known randomized trial comparing three treatment strategies for opioid-dependent patients receiving emergency care. They found that patients given the medication buprenorphine were more likely to engage in addiction treatment and reduce their illicit opioid use.

29 Apr 2015

Heroin-assisted treatments benefit some drug users

Drug users who do not benefit from conventional treatments for heroin addiction should be able to access the drug through the health system, urges a Canadian expert in The BMJ today.

16 Apr 2015

Oxycodone-related deaths drop 25% after implementation of Prescription Drug Monitoring Program

Oxycodone-related deaths dropped 25 percent after Florida implemented its Prescription Drug Monitoring Program in late 2011 as part of its response to the state's prescription drug abuse epidemic, according to a team of UF Health researchers. The drop in fatalities could stem from the number of health care providers who used the program's database to monitor controlled substance prescriptions.

16 Apr 2015

Study provides new estimates of opioid misuse, addiction

New estimates suggest that 20 to 30 percent of opioid analgesic drugs prescribed for chronic pain are misused, while the rate of opioid addiction is approximately 10 percent, reports a study in the April issue of PAIN, the official journal of the International Association for the Study of Pain.

31 Mar 2015

Overdose News and Research

Using multiple pharmacies to fill prescriptions associated with opioid overdoses

Educational messages about naloxone's lifesaving benefits can bolster support for its use

New research could help reverse side effects of acetaminophen overdose

New research looks at quickly expanding effort to equip law enforcement officers with naloxone

Veterans who died from drug overdoses also prescribed benzodiazepines for pain

Kaiser Permanente study identifies barriers to prescribing potentially life-saving medication

Braeburn reports positive topline results from Probuphine Phase 3 study for treatment of opioid addiction

Category 1 findings support robust abuse-deterrent features of Egalet-002 for management of severe pain

Study shows differences in rates of paracetamol-linked acute liver failure among European countries

Scripps Florida scientists win $2.4 million to expand development of new pain therapies

Neonatal abstinence syndrome on the rise in U.S.

Emergency department-initiated treatment better than referrals for opioid-dependent patients

Heroin-assisted treatments benefit some drug users

Oxycodone-related deaths drop 25% after implementation of Prescription Drug Monitoring Program

Study provides new estimates of opioid misuse, addiction

Mesenchymal stem cell transplantation reduces opioid tolerance, opioid-induced pain

Young children, teens at risk for unintentional medicine poisoning

Accidental fentanyl exposure in children can be fatal

Prescription painkiller abuse: A worst drug overdose epidemic in history

Policymakers need to look beyond painkiller abuse to reduce opioid overdose deaths, say researchers

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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