Painkiller News and Research

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Paracetamol fails to beat placebo at relieving back pain

Paracetamol is no more effective than placebo at relieving acute lower back pain, according to new clinical trial results.

24 Jul 2014

Paracetamol safety and osteoarthritis: an interview with Professor David Hunter, University of Sydney

Firstly, paracetamol has been the first-line recommended treatment for osteoarthritis pain for very many years and, secondly, it is readily available over the counter and can be bought in relatively large quantities.

15 Jul 2014

Pain control in osteoarthritis patients

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common causes of disability, and inadequate pain control can lead to joint stiffness that may impair mobility for patients.

9 Jul 2014

Scientists develop chip for detection of RNA strand of dengue fever virus

Scientists at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies (Cinvestav) in Mexico developed a chip (also known as cDNA microarray) that allows detection of the RNA strand of the dengue fever virus.

7 Jul 2014

State highlights: N.C. lawmakers reach Medicaid agreement; Idaho asks SCOTUS to take up Medicaid reimbursement

For the past few weeks, two big issues have kept the two chambers of the General Assembly from reaching an agreement on next year's state budget: teacher salaries and Medicaid. But on Wednesday, the Senate and the House of Representatives finally moved closer to agreement on their Medicaid forecasts, loosening a logjam that's kept legislators in Raleigh past July 1, the beginning of the fiscal year (Hoban, 7/3).

4 Jul 2014

State highlights: Caring for Texans injured on-the-job; heroin deaths in Md.; pertussis in Calif.

In formerly depressed South Texas, gas flares from the fracking boom can be seen from outer space. While Texas has a Division of Workers' Compensation, it is the only state that doesn't require any private employer to carry workers' compensation insurance or a private equivalent, so more than 500,000 people have no occupational benefits when they get injured at work. That means they often rely on charities or taxpayers to pay for their care (Root, 6/29)

1 Jul 2014

Researchers find sharp increase in deaths from commonly prescribed painkillers in US, Canada

The number of deaths involving commonly prescribed painkillers is higher than the number of deaths by overdose from heroin and cocaine combined, according to researchers at McGill University.

18 Jun 2014

Many heroin users transitioned from prescription opioids, finds study

A research paper published in the May 28, 2014 issue of JAMA Psychiatry a paper entitled "The Changing Face of Heroin Use in the United States A Retrospective Analysis of the Past 50 Years" concluded that heroin abuse has left low-income urban areas and has become prevalent in more affluent suburbs and rural areas with mostly white populations.

5 Jun 2014

Kids exposed to cooking or tobacco smoke more likely to suffer excessive pain after tonsillectomies

New research presented at this year's Euroanaesthesia meeting in Stockholm shows that children exposed to indoor coal-burning stoves and/or second-hand tobacco smoke are much more likely to suffer postoperative complications and excessive pain after tonsillectomies.

2 Jun 2014

State highlights: Calif. tables immigrant health care bill; new La. hospital financing plan; Calif. insurance commissioner powers

Nearly 200 proposals were shelved in the Legislature on Friday, including controversial measures that would have provided health care coverage to people in the country illegally, imposed a tax on oil drilled from the ground and created a voluntary substance-abuse counseling program for doctors (McGreevy and Mason, 5/23).

28 May 2014

State regulators seek to impose controls on new painkiller

Several outlets look at prescription drug issues, including how to handle Zohydro -- a powerful painkiller approved by the FDA in March, and ethical questions raised by new "smart pills."

28 May 2014

Longer looks: How doctors treat patients; myths about Obamacare; curing cancer

Many years ago I spent a lunch hour in a doctors' dining room eavesdropping on two white-coated men of a certain age idly discussing a colleague who worked at the city hospital next door.

23 May 2014

Regulators vote against approving new painkiller

A key government panel Tuesday voted unanimously against approval of a powerful opioid prescription painkiller intended to provide faster relief with fewer side effects. At the conclusion of a hearing, the Food and Drug Administration advisory committee voted 14-0 against recommending that the agency approve Moxduo, the first drug to combine morphine and oxycodone into one capsule (Stein, 4/22).

25 Apr 2014

First Edition: April 23, 2014

Today's headlines include a range of health policy news reports, including developments related to the health law, to the marketplace and at the state level.

23 Apr 2014

New painkiller, with fewer side-effects, up for FDA approval

The drug, Moxduo, allows patients to take lower doses of other painkillers. Elsewhere, a Food and Drug Administration official talks about another painkiller, Zohydro.

23 Apr 2014

First Edition: April 22, 2014

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including marketplace news about the Novartis purchase of GlaxoSmithKline's oncology unit for $14.5 billion.

22 Apr 2014

IV-administered ketamine effective in patients with chronic PTSD

For the first time, evidence that a single dose of IV-administered ketamine was associated with the rapid reduction of symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in patients with chronic PTSD was demonstrated in a proof-of-concept, randomized, double blind crossover study, undertaken by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. These findings, according to Mount Sinai researchers, could be the first step toward developing new interventions for PTSD.

21 Apr 2014

State highlights: Mass. can't ban painkiller, judge rules; Kan. and health care compact bill

A selection of health policy stories from Massachusetts, Kansas, Florida, Michigan, Connecticut, Maryland, Arizona, Hawaii, Missouri and Georgia.

17 Apr 2014

First Edition: April 16, 2014

Today's headlines include a report detailing how changes in the Census Bureau's annual survey could mask the health law's impact.

16 Apr 2014

Viewpoints: Obamacare dilemma -- some people dislike the law but embrace its provisions; are health costs falling?

Polls have consistently shown that even though the public opposes Obamacare, people like some of its most significant provisions. That's particularly true of the requirement that insurers ignore preexisting conditions when signing up customers for coverage.