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An analysis conducted by researchers at University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health concludes that rising death rates from drug overdoses in the US long precede the now notorious “opioid crisis,” and that a near perfect exponential growth curve in these rates can be tracked back to the...
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A small study conducted by researchers from the Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV (CDUHR) at New York University concludes that managers and staff of publicly patronized business establishments can be effective first responders to incidents of opioid overdose, if they are properly trained. A prior...
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The search for a new molecule in the face of the opioid crisis may have taken a major step forward with the recent discovery of a chemical compound, AT-121, that provides analgesia without addictive potential. Mei-Chuan Ko, PhD, professor of physiology and pharmacology at the School of Medicine...
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New research led by a team from Binghamton University, State University at New York, concludes that single-step nasal spray delivery of naloxone is the easiest and most successful route of administration for members of the general community. Naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan®, can be...
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A new report released by the National Drug Early Warning System, Office of National Drug Control Policy, emphasizes the complexity of assessing and treating drug overdose patients who present at hospital emergency departments. The report distills findings from a study begun in 2016 of the illicit...
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New research from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests that the effort to establish harm reduction resources to address the opioid abuse crisis could be assisted by changing the name of these locations from “safe consumption sites” to “overdose prevention sites.” A survey of a...
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Younger patients who filled a prescription for opioids when undergoing wisdom tooth extraction were 2.7 times more likely to fill at least 2 more prescriptions in the following year, according to findings from a new study conducted in association with the Michigan Opioid Prescribing and Engagement...
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A new retrospective study conducted by researchers from University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City reports that preoperative use of opioids is a significant predictor of continued postoperative opioid use in patients who undergo lumbar spinal fusion surgery. Study author Andrew Pugely, MD...
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Findings from a recent study suggest that rethinking the delivery mechanism for buprenorphine may enhance its effectiveness in treating opioid use disorder (OUD), now estimated to affect some 2.6 million American patients. The medication is typically delivered sublingually in the form of tablets or...
| Podcast
Overdose--a small word that packs a major punch, and a big reason for many recent legal regulatory changes in controlled substance prescribing and pain management. Too many physicians and allied healthcare practitioners are caught unawares by the legal issues surrounding overdose events, fatal and...