The use of heroin has become a replacement
for opioid painkillers, such as OxyContin, after the push to end these prescription drugs.
Doctors in states where marijuana is legal write fewer prescriptions
for opioid painkillers, a 2016 study in Health Affairs showed.
People who received prescriptions
for opioid painkillers in the months before elective abdominal operations had longer hospital stays, and a higher chance of needing follow - up care in a hospital or rehabilitation facility, than patients who weren't taking such medications before they had the same operations, the study finds.
Insys stock was hammered throughout much of last year, with sales
for its opioid painkiller Subsys tanking and federal investigations into its promotional practices.
Not exact matches
The incident is a case study in how companies in the pharmaceutical supply chain have come under fire
for their alleged role in the country's
opioid crisis and of the questions that have been raised about the responsibility of middleman companies that distribute prescription
painkillers.
A new government - funded study suggests that addictive
opioid painkillers may not be better than other, non-
opioid kinds of drugs
for treating chronic back pain and arthritis.
On Thursday, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy sent this letter to 2.3 million American doctors asking
for their help to curb what's being called an «unprecedented» epidemic of
opioid painkiller overdose deaths.
State Attorney General Andy Beshear is bringing suit against Endo Pharmaceuticals, which makes the
opioid Opana ER,
for alleged fraudulent and deceptive marketing practices which have contributed to a rising tide of
painkiller - related deaths in Kentucky.
Safety - sensitive transportation workers — including flight crew, air traffic controllers, truck drivers and train engineers — will be screened
for several common
opioid painkillers starting next year, according to a new federal rule published Monday.
CVS,
for example, began limiting prescriptions to seven days and prioritizing lower - dose drugs, and a number of legal complaints have been leveled against
opioid manufacturers, who have been accused of using misleading marketing tactics that may have caused more patients to get hooked on potentially addicting
painkillers.
FBI agents arrested former Insys Therapeutics (insy) CEO Michael Babich and five other former company executives on Thursday
for allegedly bribing doctors to prescribe an extremely addictive
opioid painkiller to patients who didn't need it.
Lawmakers in more than a dozen states have proposed taxing prescription
painkillers as a way to hold drugmakers accountable
for the nation's
opioid addiction and overdose crisis.
Sue pharmaceutical
opioid distributors
for violating «their duty by selling large amounts of
painkillers that were then diverted
for illicit uses, helping to contribute to the
opioid epidemic.»
Fentanyl, a synthetic
opioid 100 times more powerful than morphine, is traditionally used as a
painkiller for extreme cases like end - of - life cancer patients.
Nielsen pointed to remarks Poloncarz made at a recent Opiate Epidemic Task Force meeting, where he touted Erie County's recent lawsuit filing against major pharmaceutical companies
for misrepresenting the addictive properties of their
opioid - based
painkillers.
It's even more repulsive in light of a recent study by Dr. Andrew Chang of Albany Medical Center, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, showing
opioids were no more effective at reducing pain
for patients with broken limbs than a high - dose combination of the over-the-counter, non-addictive
painkillers ibuprofen and acetaminophen.
He sees similarities between the push to legalize marijuana and what he called the «right to pain treatment» movement of the 1990s that paved the way
for more liberal prescribing of hydrocodone and other highly addictive
opioid prescription
painkillers.
Fentanyl is an
opioid painkiller usually reserved
for cancer patients that acts similar to the way heroin does, except it's many times stronger.
«Most individuals suffering from
opioid use disorder began their addiction with a legitimate
painkiller prescription
for either themselves or a use by a family member or close friend,» explains Dr. Burstein.
The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued the first federal guidelines
for prescribing
opioid painkillers this week.
AG Eric Schneiderman opposes two bills critics say would weaken the landmark I - STOP law that makes it difficult to obtain multiple
opioid prescriptions and makes it easier
for authorities to investigate the misuse of the highly addictive
painkillers.
Onondaga County Health Commissioner Dr. Indu Gupta said one of the reasons
for the rise in
opioid addiction seen across the country is the increased use in prescription
painkillers.
And just this month, the federal Food and Drug Administration requested Endo Pharmaceuticals, an international pharmaceutical manufacturer, remove Opana ER — a semi-synthetic
opioid painkiller — from the market after concluding the drug's potential
for abuse outweighed its therapeutic value.
Shimsky, a Hastings - on - Hudson Democrat who first introduced the plan on June 19, told the Review the legislation would be directed against a number of pharmaceutical companies that have used deceptive marketing of
opioid painkillers, seeking punitive and compensatory damages
for the costs already expended by Westchester County.
Fentanyl is a synthetic
opioid painkiller usually reserved
for cancer patients that acts similar to the way heroin does, except it's much stronger.
Pain relief was the top reason cited
for misusing or abusing
opioid painkillers.
Deaths and cases of substance use disorders linked to
opioid painkillers have risen to epidemic levels nationally, with more than 14,000 deaths from prescription
opioids in 2014 according to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
«American effort reduced risky
opioid prescriptions
for veterans, study finds: Reductions in highest doses through computer «dashboard» and prioritizing
painkiller safety suggests other large health systems could do the same.»
Fewer veterans received prescriptions
for risky dosages of
opioid painkillers after a national initiative took aim at reducing high doses and potentially dangerous drug combinations, a new study finds.
Opioid - based
painkillers are problematic
for several reasons.
In the June 10 SN:
Opioids» youngest victims, the search
for safer
painkillers, tales of whale evolution, mosquitoes vs. mosquitoes, new dates
for Homo naledi, Baby Louie's true identity, an «exercise pill»
for mice, noisy meteors and more.
The research, published in the journal Cell, describes a method
for making safer
opioid painkillers.
«In addition, people already taking
opioids for pain may supplement with medical marijuana and be able to lower their
painkiller dose, thus lowering their risk of overdose.
If researchers can use venoms to develop a drug that blocks this channel, we could provide relief
for chronic pain sufferers and possibly shake our dependence on
opioid - based
painkillers, such as oxycodone or hydrocodone.
Scientists are searching
for a different kind of shot to prevent such tragedies: a vaccine to counter addiction to heroin and other
opioids, such as the prescription
painkiller fentanyl and similar knockoff drugs.
Synthetic
opioid as a
painkiller So - called
opioids, natural substances related to morphine, have been used as
painkillers for thousands of years.
Just five years ago, Peay might have been handed a bottle of
opioid painkillers for her knee.
«
Opioid receptors outside the brain targeted in rats; new direction
for painkillers.»
They found the number of ED visits by patients age 21 and younger
for any reason who were diagnosed with addiction or dependency on
opioids — which include prescription
painkillers as well as illicit drugs such as heroin — rose from 32,235 in 2008 to 49,626 in 2013.
They were also more likely to return to the hospital in the next 12 months with an
opioid - related fall or fracture, a risk factor
for seniors who take the powerful
painkillers.
The team will help members of 12 such networks understand and use best practices
for pain control in their patients, including the wisest use of
opioid painkillers.
And patients typically require a prescription
for only a few days» worth of
painkillers, rather than an initial prescription
for 60
opioid tablets that could often be refilled.
The number of pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admissions
for opioid overdoses doubled between 2004 and 2015, despite continuing efforts to curb misuse of the addictive
painkillers among adults, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Chicago Medicine published in the journal Pediatrics.
New studies provide new clues
Opioid - based
painkillers, such as morphine, have been the gold standard
for treatment of postoperative and chronic cancer pain
for 200 years.
In October, researchers at Indiana University made headway on another non-addictive
painkiller that could potentially replace
opioid - based pain medication
for certain conditions.
The United States is in the grip of an
opioid painkiller epidemic, with more than 10 million people using prescription
opioids for non-medical reasons in 2014, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
And the more serious
painkillers, known as
opioids (codeine, morphine) often prescribed postsurgery or
for short - term relief of extreme pain, cause many more side effects such as nausea, constipation, depression, and itching in women than men.
But an
opioid painkiller, such as oxycodone (Oxycontin, Percocet) or hydrocodone (Vicoprofen) can sometimes be the best option
for treating pain in the short term, particularly right after surgery or during a severe pain flare - up, pain experts say.
The CDC has recommended a three - day limit on prescription
painkillers for patients, said Dr. Anita Gupta, an anesthesiologist and pain specialist who serves as the American Society of Anesthesiologists» co-chair on prescription and
opioid abuse.
According to the authors, this highlights the importance of identifying symptoms of depression prior to prescribing
opioid painkillers for back pain, as the risks are so much greater in such instances, and the benefits more limited.