Painkiller News and Research

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Genetic discovery could take guesswork out of prescribing correct dose of drugs

The discovery of genetic differences affecting up to a third of the population could take the guesswork out of prescribing the correct dose of 25 percent of drugs currently on the market, researchers say.

2 Oct 2013

Study assess use of prescription painkillers for chronic pain among patients pre- and post-obesity surgery

Chronic use of prescription painkillers, also known as opioids, among obese patients prior to bariatric surgery continues after surgery, according to a new Kaiser Permanente study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

2 Oct 2013

Viewpoints: GOP willing to move to default if they can't cripple health law; it's time to figure out if workplace wellness programs work

This year, as has been the case so often in the past, their target is President Obama's health care reform law. If it is not repealed or defunded or delayed or otherwise left bleeding in the public square, they will not pass a spending bill needed to keep the government open past Sept. 30. And if that doesn't cripple the health law (which it won't), they will resort to the far more serious threat of default, refusing to raise the nation's debt ceiling, no matter the catastrophe that would cause (9/14).

17 Sep 2013

FDA takes steps to restrict the use of pain meds

The Food and Drug Administration will require a class-wide label change for long-acting opioids aimed at limiting use of these drugs to patients with severe, refractory pain.

12 Sep 2013

Reformulated OxyContin®: an interview with Dr. Paul Coplan, Executive Director, Risk Management and Epidemiology, Purdue Pharma

OxyContin contains oxycodone, which is an opioid agonist. It is used for the management of moderate to severe pain when a constant opioid analgesic is needed for a prolonged period of time.

29 Aug 2013

Osteoarthritis research: an interview with Dr Deborah Mason, Cardiff University

Osteoarthritis is an extremely common condition affecting about 8 million people in the UK. The elderly are particularly susceptible, with up to 45% of people over 65 years, having the disease.

14 Aug 2013

State highlights: Hundreds lost D.C. Medicaid without cause, some allege; N.Y. firms accused of political wrongdoing in Medicaid; unions fight NYC health care plan

A selection of health policy stories from the District of Columbia, New York, California, Florida, North Carolina and Colorado.

13 Aug 2013

First Edition: Aug. 12, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about state action on the health law's implementation and other news from the health insurance marketplace.

12 Aug 2013

Severe arthritis pain treatments: an interview with Professor Walsh, University of Nottingham and Professor Wood, UCL

Pain is defined by the sufferer’s experience. Pain may be severe because it is intense, frequent or sustained, and because it is distressing. The severity of pain is not simply due to what is going on in the joint, but is also affected by how the body processes the pain signals, and the context in which it is experienced.

31 Jul 2013

New Mexico Medicaid overhaul OK'd

Medicaid recipients will face co-pays for some treatments and have their medical services tracked as part of a program overhaul that is intended to lower the costs of providing health care, Gov. Susana Martinez's administration announced Monday. There will be no changes in determining who qualifies for Medicaid, which serves about a quarter of New Mexico's population (Massey, 7/15).

16 Jul 2013

Viewpoints: Health care's hidden consensus; Examining the fee-for-service payment system; Alternative medicine's allure

The politicians' consensus is that health care reform shouldn't alter or disrupt the way the majority of Americans get their insurance today. ... The policy consensus, though, is that the status quo is actually the problem, and that it deserves to be threatened, undermined and replaced as expeditiously as possible. Wonks of the left and right disagree on what that replacement should look like. But they're united in regarding employer-provided coverage as an unsustainable relic (Ross Douthat, 7/6).

9 Jul 2013

New study could lead to better and more targeted drugs for arthritis and cancer

The increased risk of heart attack or stroke associated with many arthritis drugs may be avoidable, according to a new international study co-authored by researchers at Imperial College London.

5 Jul 2013

Controlled drug release using novel excipients: an interview with Dr Laura Waters, University of Huddersfield

When you take a medicine you may want the drug to all be released immediately or perhaps more slowly over a longer period of time. If we can make a medicine where we control the release then we can tailor our medicines to release at the exact rate we choose that is best for the patient.

26 Jun 2013

Penn researchers develop variant of mu opioid painkiller receptor to overcome side effects

Opioids, such as morphine, are still the most effective class of painkillers, but they come with unwanted side effects and can also be addictive and deadly at high doses. Designing new pain-killing drugs of this type involves testing them on their corresponding receptors, but access to meaningful quantities of these receptors that can work in experimental conditions has always been a limiting factor.

15 Jun 2013

Neuromodulators provide guidelines for implantation of "digital drugs" to manage chronic pain

Neuromodulators have joined together in the Neuromodulation Appropriateness Consensus Committee (NACC) to provide the first coordinated set of recommendations about patient selection and appropriateness for implantation of "digital drugs" to manage chronic pain.

12 Jun 2013

First consensus guidelines for use of neurostimulation in chronic pain

Recognizing that treatment of chronic pain can be confounding, the Neuromodulation Appropriateness Consensus Committee, an international group of more than 60 leading pain specialists, has created the first consensus guidelines for the use of neurostimulation in chronic pain.

10 Jun 2013

Whiplash therapy: an interview with Dr Williamson and Dr Williams, University of Warwick

A whiplash injury is a common soft-tissue injury that may result in neck pain and other symptoms like headaches and arm pain.

30 May 2013

Arthritis Research UK awards Cardiff researchers a grant to develop new drugs to treat osteoarthritis

Medical research charity Arthritis Research UK has awarded a team of researchers at Cardiff University a grant of £200,000 to investigate new drugs to treat early onset osteoarthritis. The team will investigate a new therapy to reduce the risk of developing osteoarthritis.

23 May 2013

Peripheral neuropathic pain patch treatments: an interview with Anne Hodgkins, Astellas Pharma

Peripheral neuropathic pain is caused by lesion or disease to the peripheral somatosensory nervous system. Nerve damage that can lead to peripheral neuropathic pain can happen as a result of a range of different diseases, medications or traumatic injuries.

8 May 2013

The race to make abuse-proof painkillers; states lead on compounding pharmacy regulation

Developments in pharmaceuticals make headlines: the race to make painkillers that are difficult to abuse, state action on regulating compounding pharmacies and the difference in how much different Americans pay for prescriptions.

7 May 2013