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Opiate Withdrawal Blog

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Toddlers Can Die From Swallowing Parents' Drug Detox Meds

Posted 29 Aug 2013 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Aug. 29 – Children are natural explorers and imitators. But, they don't have the capacity to understand the potential danger in some activities. That helps explain why among 2-year-olds, one of every 180 ends up in the emergency room due to medication poisoning every year. For most children, the outcomes are good. They're treated, and they suffer no lasting damage. But, some drugs can be deadly with only a single dose – including a medication prescribed to help adults combat drug addiction. Buprenorphine is used alone (brand name Subutex) or in combination with another drug called naloxone (brand name Suboxone) to ease the symptoms of withdrawal in people trying to beat addictions to heroin, certain prescription painkillers or other opioid drugs. One dose of this medication can be fatal to a small child. Each year, nearly 1,500 children under 6 years old are treated in U.S. ... Read more

FDA issues draft guidance on abuse-deterrent opioids

Posted 9 Jan 2013 by Drugs.com

January 9, 2013 – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued a draft guidance document to assist industry in developing new formulations of opioid drugs with abuse-deterrent properties. The document “Guidance for Industry: Abuse-Deterrent Opioids – Evaluation and Labeling,” explains the FDA’s current thinking about the studies that should be conducted to demonstrate that a given formulation has abuse-deterrent properties, how those studies will be evaluated by the agency, and what labeling claims may be approved based on the results of those studies. “The FDA is extremely concerned about the inappropriate use of prescription opioids, which is a major public health challenge for our nation,” said FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. “This draft guidance is an important part of a larger effort by FDA aimed at preventing prescription drug abuse and misuse.” Opioids can ... Read more

Methadone for Pain Relief Leading Cause of Fatal Overdoses: CDC

Posted 3 Jul 2012 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, July 3 – Although methadone accounts for only 2 percent of the painkiller prescriptions in the United States, it is tied to more than 30 percent of painkiller overdose deaths, according to a government report released Tuesday. "There have been about 4 million prescriptions for methadone each year, and about 5,000 Americans die from methadone overdoses each year," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Methadone is riskier than other opioid painkillers because it builds up in the body and may alter breathing or heart rhythm, the report explained. Since the 1960s, methadone has been used safely as a heroin substitute in treating drug addiction. Its use as a painkiller has grown since the 1990s, the report indicated. Now, methadone is overused for pain, Frieden said. Abuse of methadone for nonmedical purposes has also led to ... Read more

U.S. Sees Tripling of Babies Born Addicted to Painkillers

Posted 30 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, April 30 – About one baby an hour is born addicted to powerful painkillers called opiates in the United States, a new study shows. The number of infants born with a drug withdrawal syndrome called neonatal abstinence syndrome tripled between 2000 and 2009, jumping to more than 13,000, according to a study published online April 30 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. At the same time, use of prescription painkillers such as oxycodone (OxyContin) by mothers-to-be increased fivefold, the researchers noted. "This is becoming a big problem and affecting newborns at an alarmingly high and increasing rate," said study author Dr. Stephen W. Patrick, a fellow in the University of Michigan's division of neonatal-perinatal medicine in Ann Arbor. Babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome tend to be irritable, have heightened muscle tone (hypertonia), tremors, feeding ... Read more

More Newborns Suffering Drug Withdrawal at Birth

Posted 30 Jan 2012 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, Jan. 30 – A dramatic rise in newborns experiencing drug withdrawal after being exposed in the womb poses challenges for clinicians on how to detox these tiny victims, a new report indicates. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has released its first updated guidelines on neonatal drug withdrawal since 1998, partly in response to the escalating abuse of both illicit and prescription drugs by pregnant women and partly in recognition of better pain management techniques for babies who are critically ill. "There have been pockets of the country where up to 25 percent of all NICU [neonatal intensive care unit] babies at any given time are being treated for withdrawal," said report co-author Dr. Mark Hudak, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Jacksonville. "The problem has percolated up and reached the attention of government and medical ... Read more

Nausea Drug Shows Promise Against Opioid Addiction

Posted 18 Feb 2009 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 18 – A drug currently used to treat nausea can prevent symptoms of withdrawal from illegal and prescription opioid drugs such as heroin, morphine and codeine, a new study shows. The Stanford University scientists behind the research added it can do so without some of the serious side effects caused by existing treatments for addiction to these drugs. Initial tests in mice showed that the drug ondansetron (Zofran) blocks certain 5-HT3 receptors involved in withdrawal symptoms, the researchers said. They then tested it in eight healthy, non-opioid-dependent volunteers who were given two doses of morphine, once without ondansetron and one with it, and found ondansetron reduced withdrawal symptoms in humans. The study appears in the Feb. 17 online issue of the Journal of Pharmacogenetics and Genomics. "Opioid abuse is rising at a faster rate than any other type of illicit ... Read more

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