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Another Drug 'Take-Back Day' Scheduled for Saturday
Posted 26 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, April 26 – The fourth National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is scheduled for Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says. The event gives Americans an opportunity to safely dispose of unwanted and unused prescription drugs. At the third Take-Back Day last October, participants turned in more than 377,000 pounds (188.5 tons) of unwanted or expired medications at more than 5,300 sites located in all 50 states. In total, the three Take-Back Days have taken in nearly 1 million pounds of prescription drugs during the past 13 months. "The amount of prescription drugs turned in by the American public during the past three Take-Back Day events speaks volumes about the need to develop a convenient way to rid homes of unwanted or expired prescription drugs," DEA administrator Michele Leonhart said in an agency news release. "The DEA remains hard at ... Read more
Related support groups: Suboxone, Xanax, Methadone, Oxycodone, Percocet, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Adderall, Morphine, Norco, Fentanyl, Klonopin, Lortab, Subutex
Sleeping Pills Linked to Raised Risk of Death, Cancer: Study
Posted 27 Feb 2012 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Feb. 27 – Prescription sleeping pills may help you get some much needed rest at night, but using them routinely might also make it more likely that you will die or develop certain types of cancer, research suggests. A new study suggests that those who take these medications are four times more likely to die than people who don't take them. What's more, the research shows that sleeping pills is also associated with a raised risk for certain cancers. The findings appear online Feb. 27 in the journal BMJ Open. Sleeping pills linked to these risks included benzodiazepines such as temazepam; non-benzodiazepines such as Ambien (zolpidem), Lunesta (eszopiclone) and Sonata (zaleplon); barbiturates; and sedative antihistamines. The new study only shows an association between the sleeping aids and death risk, not cause-and-effect, and many experts are urging caution in jumping to any ... Read more
Related support groups: Xanax, Cancer, Klonopin, Valium, Ambien, Ativan, Clonazepam, Lorazepam, Alprazolam, Diazepam, Zolpidem, Temazepam, Lunesta, Restoril, Phenobarbital
Accidental Medication Poisonings in Kids on the Rise
Posted 16 Sep 2011 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Sept. 16 – Despite ongoing prevention efforts, a growing number of young children are being accidentally poisoned with medications, according to new research. The study, which was based on data reported to the American Association of Poison Control Centers between 2001 and 2008, found that medication poisoning among children aged 5 and under increased by 22 percent, although the number of children in the United States in this age group rose by only 8 percent during the study period. "The problem of pediatric poisoning in the U.S. is getting worse, not better," Dr. Randall Bond, of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, said in a hospital news release. In conducting the study, which is scheduled for publication in the Journal of Pediatrics, the researchers reviewed information on over 544,000 children who landed in the emergency department due to medication poisoning ... Read more
Related support groups: Suboxone, Xanax, Methadone, Oxycodone, Percocet, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Morphine, Norco, Fentanyl, Klonopin, Lortab, Lisinopril, Subutex
Popular Sleep Medicine Puts Older Adults at Risk for Falls, Cognitive Impairment
Posted 17 Jan 2011 by Drugs.com
BOULDER, Colo, Jan. 13, 2011 - Adults who take one of the world's most commonly prescribed sleep medications are significantly more at risk for nighttime falls and potential injury, according to a new study by the University of Colorado at Boulder. The study, which involved 25 healthy adults, showed 58 percent of the older adults and 27 percent of the young adults who took a hypnotic, sleep-inducing drug called zolpidem showed a significant loss of balance when awakened two hours after sleep. The findings are important because falls are the leading cause of injury in older adults, and 30 percent of adults 65 and older who fall require hospitalization each year, said CU-Boulder Associate Professor Kenneth Wright, lead study author. To measure balance, the research team used a technique known as a "tandem walk" in which subjects place one foot in front of the other with a normal step ... Read more
Related support groups: Ambien, Zolpidem, Ambien CR, Edluar, Prevention of Falls, Zolpimist
Psychotropic Medications Associated With Risk of Falls in Older Adults
Posted 1 Dec 2009 by Drugs.com
CHICAGO, Nov. 23, 2009 - Older adults who take several types of psychotropic medications—such as antidepressants or sedatives—appear more likely to experience falls, according to an analysis of previous studies reported in the November 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. More than 30 percent of individuals older than 65 will fall at least once a year, and falls and their complications are the fifth-leading cause of death in the developed world, according to background information in the article. Each year, 85 percent of all injury-related hospital admissions and more than 40 percent of nursing home admissions are related to falls, and the annual costs related to falls and their complications are estimated to be in the billions of dollars worldwide. Both internal and external risk factors contribute to falls, and medications have previously been i ... Read more
Related support groups: Xanax, Lexapro, Zoloft, Cymbalta, Wellbutrin, Klonopin, Effexor, Prozac, Celexa, Valium, Paxil, Ambien, Ativan, Clonazepam, Trazodone
Odd Behaviors on Ambien Linked to Brain Circuitry
Posted 2 Jul 2009 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, July 2 – New information about brain circuit activity may help explain why some people who take the sleep aid Ambien (zolpidem) walk, eat, talk on the phone and even drive while not fully awake – and without remembering it the next morning. The drug has also been shown to awaken minimally conscious patients into a conscious state. In experiments with mice, researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., found that zolpidem shuts down some powerful brain circuits but activates other circuits when they're deprived of activity. "Brain cells or neurons are highly reactive to incoming activity throughout life," study corresponding author Molly M. Huntsman, an assistant professor in the department of pharmacology, said in a news release. "When brain activity is silenced, many neurons automatically react to this change. We see this in our study, which ... Read more
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Pills Plus Psychotherapy Can Beat Insomnia
Posted 19 May 2009 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, May 19 – If you've been having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, a new study suggests that the short-term use of sleep medications plus behavioral changes may be the best combination for getting your zzz's. The Canadian study, which appears in the May 20 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that the short-term addition of the sleep medication, zolpidem (Ambien), coupled with cognitive behavioral therapy, helped more people overcome persistent insomnia. "When we treat persistent insomnia in adults, we can use cognitive behavioral therapy alone or in combination with medications. This study found an added value to adding medications for the short-term," said study author Charles Morin, Canada Research Chair in Sleep Disorders at Laval University in Quebec. "Insomnia significantly impairs quality of life, and it's a very costly problem for ... Read more
Zolpimist Approved for Insomnia
Posted 22 Dec 2008 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Dec. 22 – NovaDel Pharma's Zolpimist (zolpidem tartrate) oral spray has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for short-term treatment of insomnia, the drug's maker said Monday. Approved in 5-milligram and 10-milligram strengths, the spray contains the same active ingredient as the widely used prescription sleep aid Ambien. Approval for Zolpimist was given based on data from two randomized studies in which Zolpimist was compared to Ambien tablets in young and elderly healthy volunteers. Zolpimist should be taken immediately before bedtime, and users should be prepared to get a full night's sleep of seven to eight hours, NovaDel said in a news release. Some people who have taken this type of drug, called a sedative hypnotic, have reported unusual cases of sleepwalking, including driving or eating, while not fully awake, the company said. While sedative hypnotics ... Read more
FDA Medwatch Alert: Ambien, Ambien CR (zolpidem tartate)
Posted 14 Mar 2007 by Drugs.com
[Posted 03/14/2007] FDA notified healthcare professionals of its request that all manufacturers of sedative-hypnotic drug products, a class of drugs used to induce and/or maintain sleep, strengthen their product labeling to include stronger language concerning potential risks. These risks include severe allergic reactions and complex sleep-related behaviors, which may include sleep-driving. Sleep driving is defined as driving while not fully awake after ingestion of a sedative-hypnotic product, with no memory of the event. FDA also requested that each product manufacturer send letters to health care providers to notify them about the new warnings, and that manufacturers develop Patient Medication Guides for the products to inform consumers about risks and advise them of potential precautions that can be taken.[March 14, 2007 - News Release - FDA] Read more
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FDA Medwatch Alert: Ambien (zolpidem tartrate)
Posted 16 Feb 2007 by Drugs.com
[Posted 02/16/2007] FDA informed consumers and healthcare professionals regarding the possible dangers of buying prescription medications online. Individuals who ordered Ambien, Xanax, Lexapro, and Ativan over the internet received a product that contained haloperidol, a powerful anti-psychotic drug. Several consumers experienced difficulty in breathing, muscle spasms and muscle stiffness after ingesting the suspect product and had to seek emergency medical treatment. Haloperiodol can cause muscle stiffness, spasms, agitation and sedation. Taking medication that contains an active ingredient other than what is prescribed by qualified healthcare professionals is generally unsafe. FDA urges consumers to review the FDA website for additional information prior to making purchases of medications over the internet (http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ProtectYourself/default.htm).[February 16, ... Read more
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