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Drug Dependence News
Related terms: Drug Abuse, Drug Addiction, Opiate Addiction
U.S. Opioid Epidemic Fueling Life Expectancy Decline
Posted 13 hours ago by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Aug. 16, 2018 – The opioid epidemic may be a major reason for recent declines in Americans' life expectancy, a new study says. A second study found rising death rates among Americans ages 25 to 64, but cited a number of factors as potential causes. In the first study, researchers looked at 18 wealthy nations and found that most of them had declines in life expectancy in 2015. It's the ...
Number of Opioid-Addicted Women Giving Birth Quadruples
Posted 7 days ago by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Aug. 9, 2018 – The number of pregnant women addicted to opioids as they give birth has more than quadrupled since 1999, a disturbing new report shows. In 2014, for every 1,000 hospital deliveries, 6.5 were mothers who arrived at the hospital with opioid use disorder, up from 1.5 per 1,000 in 1999, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers found. This increase is ...
Doctors Write Fewer Opioid Scripts After Learning of Overdose Death
Posted 7 days ago by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Aug. 9, 2018 – Doctors prescribed fewer opioid pain medications after receiving letters from a medical examiner informing them of a patient's fatal overdose, a new study says. Many people who die of opioid overdoses got addicted to the drugs after they were prescribed for common problems. This study included 861 doctors in San Diego County who prescribed opioids to 170 patients who ...
Opioid Addicts Turning to Unapproved Antidepressant to Get High
Posted 14 days ago by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Aug. 2, 2018 – In a trend that suggests opioid addicts are turning to new fixes, a government report shows that use of an unapproved antidepressant is becoming more widespread in the United States. Tianeptine is used in some European, Asian and Latin American countries for treatment of depression and anxiety. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved use of the drug in ...
As Opioid Epidemic Rages, Painkiller Prescriptions Don't Drop
Posted 15 days ago by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 1, 2018 – In a sign that the U.S. opioid epidemic is still not under control, a new report shows that prescriptions for the highly addictive painkillers haven't declined in the last decade. After peaking in 2012-2013, opioid use and doses leveled off. But doses were still higher in 2017 than in 2007, and opioid use was particularly high among older patients suffering chronic ...
Most Seniors Uninformed on Opioid Use
Posted 17 days ago by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, July 31, 2018 – A new survey suggests health care professionals are giving short shrift to their older patients when it comes to explaining the risks of opioid painkillers. Researchers found that most older Americans who are prescribed opioids aren't advised about the dangers of the drugs, how to use fewer of them, when to use non-opioid alternatives, or what to do with leftover ...
Majority in U.S. Support Medical Pot, Think It Could Fight Opioid Crisis
Posted 17 days ago by Drugs.com
MONDAY, July 30, 2018 – Americans strongly support medical marijuana, and a majority also believe that pot should be legal for recreational purposes, a new HealthDay/Harris Poll has found. Nearly nine out of every 10 adults – 85 percent – believe that marijuana should be legalized for medical use, the poll reports. And more than half, 57 percent, support the legalization of recreational ...
Could Botox Cousin Combat the Opioid Epidemic?
Posted 20 Jul 2018 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, July 20, 2018 – A modified type of botulinum toxin – botox – gave mice long-term pain relief and may someday be a safer alternative to opioids as a treatment for chronic pain, according to British researchers. They "deconstructed" the botulinum molecule and reassembled it with an opioid called dermorphin. The resulting compound – called Derm-BOT – silenced pain signals from neurons ...
Where Are Opioid Painkillers Prescribed the Most?
Posted 19 Jul 2018 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, July 19, 2018 – A close look at U.S. congressional districts has yielded new information about the opioid crisis: The highest rates of prescriptions for opioid painkillers are in the Southeast, Appalachia and the rural West. Focusing on prescribing rates for opioids like Oxycontin in congressional districts could help improve efforts to fight the nation's opioid addiction crisis, ...
Resetting E-Prescriptions for Opioids Helps Curb Use: Study
Posted 18 Jul 2018 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, July 18, 2018 – Lowering the default number of opioid painkillers in electronic prescription systems reduced overall use of the drugs, a new study finds. In electronic medical-record systems, prescriptions have a default number of pills. It's been suggested that reducing this number may help curb the use of addictive opioids, such as OxyContin. In this study, researchers compared ...
Opioids Given Too Easily to Children: Study
Posted 16 Jul 2018 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, July 16, 2018 – Many children are prescribed powerful opioid painkillers they don't really need, putting them and those around them at risk, a new study shows. More than one in 10 kids enrolled in Tennessee's Medicaid program received an opioid prescription each year between 1999 and 2014, even though they did not have a severe condition requiring powerful painkillers, the researchers ...
Treatment for Opioid Abuse Grows, but Many on Medicaid Don't Receive It
Posted 2 Jul 2018 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, July 2, 2018 – Approval of the drug buprenorphine led to a rise in the number of Medicaid patients getting medication to treat opioid addiction. But the rates were lower among poor, black and Hispanic patients, a new study says. Methadone or buprenorphine are recommended treatments for opioid-abuse disorders. Methadone must be dispensed in special clinics and often requires daily visits, ...
Death Certificate Data May Miss Many Opioid ODs: Study
Posted 27 Jun 2018 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, June 27, 2018 – The actual number of opioid overdose deaths in several U.S. states is likely far higher than death certificates suggest, a new study says. Incomplete reporting of overdose deaths can hamper efforts to fight the nation's opioid epidemic, according to the University of Pittsburgh researchers. They said that as many as 70,000 opioid overdose deaths were not included in ...
Risky Prescribing Boosts Opioid Death Risk
Posted 25 Jun 2018 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, June 25, 2018 – When opioid pain medications, such as OxyContin, are prescribed in a risky manner, that increases a patient's chances of death. That's the conclusion of a new study by RAND Corporation researchers who analyzed prescribing data in Massachusetts from 2011 to 2015, and found that half of adults received at least one opioid prescription during that time. In addition, at least ...
Kids Are Overdosing on Buprenorphine, A Med Meant to Fight Opioid Addiction
Posted 25 Jun 2018 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, June 25, 2018 – Young American children are being sickened – and even dying – after being poisoned by a drug used to fight opioid addiction, a new report contends. Investigators reported that between 2007 and 2016, more than 11,000 emergency calls were made to U.S. poison control centers after a child or teen was exposed to buprenorphine, a powerful prescription medication that helps ...
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