Pain Management News and Research

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Sun Pharma acquires Chattem Chemicals, Inc

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. has announced that its fully owned US subsidiary, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc., has acquired 100% ownership of Chattem Chemicals, Inc. (Chattem) from Elcat, Inc,.

26 Nov 2008

FDA approves tapentadol immediate-release tablets for pain in adults

Millions of Americans with moderate to severe acute pain and their health-care providers will soon have a new treatment option.

21 Nov 2008

World's first pediatric robotic bladder reconstruction performed

A 10-year-old Chicago girl born with an abnormally small bladder that made her incontinent has become the first patient to benefit from a new robotic-assisted bladder-reconstruction method developed by surgeons at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

20 Nov 2008

$99 million medical education and research facility opened

NSW Minister for Health John Della Bosca and Vice-Chancellor and Principal Dr Michael Spence have officially opened the University of Sydney's new $99 million Kolling Building at Royal North Shore Hospital, providing a new purpose-built facility for medical researchers and clinical educators.

18 Nov 2008

Doctors' questions about end-of-life legalities may result in patient pain

When treatment options dwindle or are exhausted, terminally ill-patients often opt for pain management and comfort over life-extending therapies.

16 Nov 2008

TheraQuest's IND for abuse deterrent strong opioid (TQ-1015) accepted by FDA

TheraQuest Biosciences, Inc. a development stage pain management company today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted its Investigational New Drug ("IND") application for TQ-1015, its abuse deterrent extended release strong opioid. TQ-1015 is being developed using Securel, TheraQuest's proprietary abuse deterrent technology.

13 Nov 2008

Swiss approval for Zevtera in treatment of complicated skin and soft tissue infections

Swissmedic, the Swiss agency for therapeutic products, has approved Zevtera (ceftobiprole medocaril) for the treatment of complicated skin and soft tissue infections, including diabetic foot infections which have not spread to the bone.

13 Nov 2008

Doctors' questions about end-of-life legalities may result in patient pain

When treatment options dwindle or are exhausted, terminally ill-patients often opt for pain management and comfort over life-extending therapies. However, a team of researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, University of Rochester Medical Center and Unity Health System, report that a lack of thorough understanding about the laws governing end-of-life care may be leaving many medical providers with an ethical dilemma and causing some terminally-ill patients considerable, unnecessary pain.

13 Nov 2008

Harvard study looks at quality of hospitals across the United States

The quality of hospitals across the United States is inconsistent. To address this issue, the federal government and private organizations have begun to publicly report data, such as how well hospitals treat certain conditions.

31 Oct 2008

More training, improved tools needed for African health workers performing male circumcisions, study finds

African health workers performing male circumcision in an effort to curb the spread of HIV need better tools and more training to avoid high rates of complications, according to a World Health Organization study published Monday in the WHO Bulletin, Reuters Health reports.

4 Sep 2008

Spinifex secures major investment to develop pain drug

Spinifex Pharmaceuticals, an Australian pain drug development company, today announced it has secured venture capital investment of A$12 million from GBS Venture Partners Limited, Brandon Capital Partners and Uniseed to fund the development of its pain management drug, EMA401.

2 Sep 2008

Over 10 million Americans are taking opioids

Researchers from Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center have found that in a given week, over 10 million Americans are taking opioids, and more than 4 million are taking them regularly (at least five days per week, for at least four weeks). These findings appear in the August 31 issue of the journal Pain.

27 Aug 2008

Depression prompts thoughts of death in cancer patients

Cancer patients are three times more likely to think they would be "better off dead" or to contemplate suicide than the rest of the population - a Cancer Research UK study reports online today.

12 Aug 2008

Medicinal cannabis effective for neuropathic pain in HIV

In a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial to assess the impact of smoked medical cannabis, or marijuana, on the neuropathic pain associated with HIV, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine found that reported pain relief was greater with cannabis than with a placebo.

6 Aug 2008

EpiCept and GNI partner to develop anti-viral hepatitis drug in Asia

GNI Ltd and EpiCept Corporation have announced that they have reached agreement to develop a new therapeutic drug, EP1013, in Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, for late-stage viral infection-induced hepatitis. EpiCept will retain the rights in the rest of the world. GNI’s wholly owned subsidiary, Shanghai Genomics, will start preparation for pre-IND and clinical development in China immediately.

17 Jul 2008

UT Southwestern launches study of surgical option for treating diabetic and other neuropathies

UT Southwestern Medical Center plastic surgeons and specialists in diabetes, neurology, pain management and rehabilitation are launching a cutting-edge study of peripheral nerve surgery to alleviate long-standing pain and numbness in patients with diabetic neuropathy.

10 Jul 2008

A spoonful of sugar helps manage pain in newborns undergoing painful medical procedures

While the fictional character Mary Poppins may have been trying to charm her young wards into the unpleasant task of cleaning their room by singing 'A Spoonful of Sugar', her message apparently rings true to life.

30 Jun 2008

Currently used pain assessment tools may be underestimating the pain response in infants

Dr Slater and colleagues (University College London, UK) studied the association between cortical pain responses in young infants and currently used pain assessment tools which are based on behavioural and physiological measures, such as change in facial expression.

24 Jun 2008

How best to treat chronic pain? The jury is still out

How best to alleviate chronic pain, a leading cause of disability and employee absenteeism, continues to perplex both patients and their doctors.

5 Jun 2008

Improving palliative care

Palliative care clinicians are increasingly faced with the problem of treating a wider range of diseases, and treating patients in all settings, not just in hospices or specialist units. This has created new challenges in the treatment of symptoms, which in turn creates a need for new research and practical recommendations to help palliative care clinicians and improve patient care.

2 Jun 2008