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Study: Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. are actually multiple opioid epidemics

The United States is suffering from several different simultaneous opioid epidemics, rather than just a single crisis, according to an academic study of deaths caused by drug overdoses.

9 Dec 2019

Methamphetamine undermines success in treatment for opioid-use disorder

Judith Tsui, a UW Medicine clinician specializing in addiction treatment, was seeing more and more patients she was treating for opioid-use disorder also using methamphetamines, a powerful, highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system.

8 Dec 2019

Website errors raise calls for Medicare to be flexible with seniors’ enrollment

Saturday is the deadline for most people with Medicare coverage to sign up for private drug and medical plans for next year.

6 Dec 2019

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: We spend how much on health care?

Health spending in the U.S. grew to $3.6 trillion in 2018, according to a new report from the federal government. The rate of growth — 4.6% — was up slightly from 2017's 4.2%, despite the fact that nearly a million more Americans lacked insurance.

5 Dec 2019

Pharma’s take on the Pelosi drug-pricing bill: Fair warning or fearmongering?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's flagship proposal to curb prescription drug prices, the "Lower Drug Costs Now Act" - H.R. 3 - could come up for a vote in the chamber this month.

5 Dec 2019

HHS hands out free HIV prevention drugs. Do you qualify?

The Trump administration Tuesday unveiled a plan to distribute HIV prevention medication free to individuals who do not have prescription drug insurance coverage.

4 Dec 2019

New PA program in Massachusetts to provide knowledge, skills to prescribe opiates safely

Morbidity and mortality from prescription and synthetic opioid use and abuse continues to be a U.S. public health issue. In an effort to help curtail this crisis, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine describe an approach to ensure Physician Assistant (PA) students graduating from any PA program in Massachusetts will have the knowledge and skills to prescribe opiates safely.

3 Dec 2019

Researchers propose aspirin as possible treatment option for patients with migraine

Migraine headache is the third most common disease in the world affecting about 1 in 7 people. More prevalent than diabetes, epilepsy and asthma combined, migraine headaches are among the most common and potentially debilitating disorders encountered by primary health care providers.

3 Dec 2019

A young immigrant has mental illness, and that’s raising his risk of deportation

When José moved his family to the United States from Mexico nearly two decades ago, he had hopes of giving his children a better life.

26 Nov 2019

New California law may expand use of HIV prevention drugs, with caveats

Kellen Willhite was 24 when he learned he'd been exposed to HIV. What followed was, as he describes it, a second trauma: trying to obtain the drugs that could save him before it was too late.

20 Nov 2019

Adoption of state Prescription Drug Monitoring programs linked with death rates from heroin poisoning

A new study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health found a consistent association between the adoption of state Prescription Drug Monitoring programs (PDMP) and death rates from heroin poisoning.

14 Nov 2019

Opioid-free pain management guidelines released by Pitt Dental Medicine

The University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine is the first in the nation to establish opioid-free pain management guidelines for the vast majority of procedures performed in all of its clinics.

14 Nov 2019

FDA grants acceptance to application for selumetinib as treatment for neurofibromatosis

AstraZeneca and MSD (Merck) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted acceptance to file status of its application for the MEK inhibitor selumetinib, for use in patients with plexiform neurofibromas, a common manifestation in the disease neurofibromatosis type one (NF1).

14 Nov 2019

Regular co-use of pain and sleep medications may increase risk of frailty in older adults

Researchers from the Oregon Research Institute and Florida Atlantic University are the first to demonstrate statistically significant links between self-reported regular use of prescription drugs for pain and/or sleep, and longitudinal risk of frailty in adults ages 65 and older.

13 Nov 2019

Voters say Congress needs to curb drug prices, but are lawmakers listening?

House Democrats are poised to pass sweeping legislation to lower drug prices using strategies President Donald Trump has endorsed. A Trump aide urged the Republican-controlled Senate to vote on a different package curbing drug prices that was drafted by a senior Republican.

11 Nov 2019

The air ambulance billed more than his surgeon did for a lung transplant

Before his double lung transplant, Tom Saputo thought he had anticipated every possible outcome.

6 Nov 2019

E-learning educates medical students on safely prescribing opioids for chronic pain

Even in the era of the opioid epidemic and abuse, medical residents report feeling inadequately prepared to prescribe opioids responsibly to patients who medically need them. However, a safe opioid prescribing e-learning program effectively educates graduate students on safely prescribing opioids for chronic pain and is effective regardless of year in training, according to research from the University of California, Irvine.

6 Nov 2019

Analysis: Elizabeth Warren throws down the gauntlet

Laying the table for the next Democratic debate, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has issued a plan that explains how she would fund what she calls Medicare for All. She had studiously avoided saying whether it would raise taxes for the middle class, and in her proposal, she says (repeatedly) it will not.

6 Nov 2019

Electronic prescription accountability program may help track opioid prescriptions

An electronic prescription accountability program for physicians tracking the number of opioid prescriptions per provider may help institutions identify areas for training and education to prevent overprescribing, according to research from the University of California, Irvine.

6 Nov 2019

Moved overseas for school, stayed for insulin

Every now and then, Katie West considers returning to the United States. She moved to Germany for graduate school three years ago and now works as a health systems researcher in Hamburg. Her family is an ocean away. Then she remembers why she stays.

29 Oct 2019

Prescription Drug News and Research

Study: Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. are actually multiple opioid epidemics

Methamphetamine undermines success in treatment for opioid-use disorder

Website errors raise calls for Medicare to be flexible with seniors’ enrollment

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: We spend how much on health care?

Pharma’s take on the Pelosi drug-pricing bill: Fair warning or fearmongering?

HHS hands out free HIV prevention drugs. Do you qualify?

New PA program in Massachusetts to provide knowledge, skills to prescribe opiates safely

Researchers propose aspirin as possible treatment option for patients with migraine

A young immigrant has mental illness, and that’s raising his risk of deportation

New California law may expand use of HIV prevention drugs, with caveats

Adoption of state Prescription Drug Monitoring programs linked with death rates from heroin poisoning

Opioid-free pain management guidelines released by Pitt Dental Medicine

FDA grants acceptance to application for selumetinib as treatment for neurofibromatosis

Regular co-use of pain and sleep medications may increase risk of frailty in older adults

Voters say Congress needs to curb drug prices, but are lawmakers listening?

The air ambulance billed more than his surgeon did for a lung transplant

E-learning educates medical students on safely prescribing opioids for chronic pain

Analysis: Elizabeth Warren throws down the gauntlet

Electronic prescription accountability program may help track opioid prescriptions

Moved overseas for school, stayed for insulin

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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