Overdose News and Research

RSS

Cumberland Pharmaceuticals submits Acetadote sNDA for non-acetaminophen acute liver failure

Cumberland Pharmaceuticals Inc. has submitted a supplemental new drug application (sNDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the use of Acetadote® (acetylcysteine) Injection in patients with non-acetaminophen acute liver failure. Acetadote was launched by Cumberland in 2004 as the first U.S.-approved injectable drug to treat acetaminophen overdose.

30 Mar 2010

Medtronic announces enrollment of first European patients in randomized controlled trial of ITB Therapy

Medtronic, Inc. today announced the enrollment of the first European patients in the largest randomized controlled trial to date to investigate the benefits of ITB Therapy(R) (Intrathecal Baclofen) in post-stroke patients affected by spasticity. The announcement comes as the World Congress for Neurorehabilitation is taking place in Vienna, Austria.

26 Mar 2010

Genetic variation associated with lower risk of sudden cardiac arrest:Study

Physician-scientists at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute have found that a genetic variation is associated with lower risk of sudden cardiac arrest, a disorder that gives little warning and is fatal in about 95 percent of cases. Findings will be published tomorrow by the Public Library of Science (PloS One).

25 Mar 2010

Excelsior Medical receives Canadian marketing license for new, pre-filled catheter lock syringe

Excelsior Medical Corporation, one of the leading manufacturers of pre-filled catheter flush syringes, today announced that it has received a Medical Device License from Health Canada for its new, pre-filled catheter lock syringe to be sold in the Canadian marketplace.

10 Feb 2010

FDA approves oral pain relief solution for opioid-tolerant patients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Morphine Sulfate Oral Solution for the relief of moderate to severe, acute and chronic pain in opioid-tolerant patients. This medicine will be available in 100 milligrams per 5 mL or 20 milligrams per 1 mL.

27 Jan 2010

New issue from Annals of Internal Medicine

Prescriptions of some opioids, such as oxycodone, have increased significantly over the past decade. As long-term opioid therapy for chronic noncancer pain becomes more common, the deaths associated with opioids increase.

19 Jan 2010

Study examines how opioid overdose differs by prescribed dose for chronic pain conditions

More and more Americans with chronic pain not caused by cancer are taking medically prescribed opioids like Oxycontin (oxycodone) and Vicodin (hydrocodone). The January 19 Annals of Internal Medicine features the first study to explore the risk of overdose in patients prescribed opioids for chronic noncancer pain in general health care.

19 Jan 2010

Bacterial enzyme decreases cocaine desire

A recent study shows that a bacterial protein may help cocaine addicts break the habit.

3 Jan 2010

American Pain Society supports FDA drug disposal guidelines

Calling it "an important first step in attempting to reverse an escalating public health menace caused by diversion of prescription opioid pain medications," the American Pain Society today announced its support for a new FDA initiative to encourage consumers to remove unused pain drugs from home medicine cabinets.

3 Dec 2009

Study of Acetadote Injection as a cost-saving treatment for acetaminophen poisoning published

Cumberland Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced today that an independently conducted study of Acetadote (acetylcysteine) Injection, or intravenous N-acetylcysteine, as a cost-saving treatment for acetaminophen poisoning was published in Volume 12, Number 4 of the peer-reviewed Journal of Medical Economics, distributed in December.

2 Dec 2009

Study examines temporal association between media coverage and opioid-related deaths

Increases in deaths from opioid drugs such as OxyContin may be linked to the volume of coverage such deaths receive in the news, according to a study from Children's Hospital Boston and the University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill. The study compared patterns of opioid deaths and patterns of news coverage between 1999 and 2005, during which time mortality rates from opioid abuse doubled.

20 Nov 2009

Millennium Laboratories announces new clinical quantitative assay and drug screening tests for healthcare

Millennium Laboratories, a leading provider of therapeutic drug monitoring and education to physicians and staff treating chronic pain patients, announced today the company’s development and validation of a clinical quantitative assay for the new drug tapentadol (Nucynta™) by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).

12 Nov 2009

Trinity Health to install Elsevier's online CDS solutions

Elsevier (http://www.elsevier.com), a world leader in healthcare and medical publishing and online solutions, today announced that Trinity Health (http://www.trinity-health.org), the nation's fourth largest Catholic health system with 44 hospitals across eight states, will install seven of Elsevier's online clinical decision support (CDS) solutions to meet the evolving needs of its thousands of physicians, nurses, pharmacists and allied health professionals for evidence-based clinical content.

10 Nov 2009

Study finds link between high levels of pesticide exposure and suicidal thoughts

A new study in China has found that people with higher levels of pesticide exposure are more likely to have suicidal thoughts. The study was carried out by Dr Robert Stewart from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London together with scientists from Tongde Hospital Zhejiang Province.

23 Oct 2009

Meda Pharmaceuticals introduces Onsolis for treating breakthrough cancer pain

Meda Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced the launch of Onsolis(TM)(fentanyl buccal soluble film) in the U.S. for the management of breakthrough pain (BTP) in patients with cancer, eighteen years of age and older, who are already receiving and who are tolerant to opioid therapy for their underlying persistent cancer pain.

13 Oct 2009

Overdose of vitamin A can impact cell growth

If a little vitamin A is good, more must be better, right? Wrong! New research published online in the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) shows that vitamin A plays a crucial role in energy production within cells, explaining why too much or too little has a complex negative effect on our bodies.

9 Oct 2009

Moderately elevated levels of ROS positive in fruit flies

It has been known for decades that reactive oxygen species (ROS) - ions or very small molecules that include free radicals - damage cells. But much to their surprise, Jonsson Cancer Center researchers found that in Drosophila, the common fruit fly, moderately elevated levels of ROS are a good thing.

25 Sep 2009

Controlled release pills and capsules with dose dumping tendency should be tested

Controlled release pills and capsules that show a tendency in the standard laboratory test toward "dose dumping" - releasing their medicine in a faster and potentially unsafe manner in patients who have consumed alcohol - should be withheld from the market until proven safe with testing in people. That's the conclusion of a review of existing studies in the September-October issue of ACS' Molecular Pharmaceutics, a bi-monthly journal.

24 Sep 2009

King Pharmaceuticals achieves milestone: Announces commercial availability of EMBEDA

King Pharmaceuticals(R), Inc. (NYSE: KG) today announced a true milestone as it marks the first commercial availability for EMBEDA(TM) (morphine sulfate and naltrexone hydrochloride) Extended Release Capsules, a long-acting Schedule II opioid analgesic for the management of moderate to severe pain when a continuous, around-the-clock opioid analgesic is needed for an extended period of time.

21 Sep 2009

ORT remains underutilized in U.S. prison systems

Almost a quarter of a million individuals addicted to heroin are incarcerated in the United States each year. However, many prison systems across the country still do not offer medical treatment for heroin and opiate addiction, despite the demonstrated social, medical and economic benefits of opiate replacement therapy (ORT).

9 Sep 2009