| Article
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, National Institutes of Health released a press release dated September 18, 2023, detailing a study that suggests that higher buprenorphine doses are associated with improved retention in treatment for opioid use disorder.
According to the US...
| Article
In life-saving news, the FDA has approved, for the first time, over the counter use of Narcan, 4 mg naloxone hydrochloride nasal spray. By increasing ease of access by selling directly to consumers whether online or via grocery stores, gas stations, drug stores, or convenience shops, the FDA hopes...
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Surges in opioid overdose rates have been driven primarily by fentanyl analogues, not prescribed opioids. The media, politicians, and even professional anti-opioid advocacy groups continue to muddy the waters with propaganda and deception. These fentanyl overdoses rarely involve pharmaceutical...
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Can the antiepileptic drug levetiracetam (LEV) work as a pre-emptive analgesic for those undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy? How would LEV impact general anesthesia during surgery and use of fentanyl postsurgery? Researchers explored these questions and published findings in Cureus. 60 minutes...
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The American Medical Association just released a new OPIOID TASK FORCE 2020 PROGRESS REPORT in the hopes of reducing drug overdoses and deaths. Although prescription opioid overdose deaths have decreased, illicit drugs such as heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine have risen. Last year, fentanyl...
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Newswise — Choice and control are important factors for ensuring a positive childbirth experience, yet until recently, little was known about the impact of alternative administrations of fentanyl – one of the pain relief drugs used during labour– on both mother and baby.
Now, world-first...
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Dr. Zacharoff examines the roles of both prescription and illicit opioids—heroin and fentanyl—as components of today’s “opioid abuse epidemic”. There are similarities and important differences and the task for clinicians is to minimize harms while addressing the needs of patients in pain.
| Podcast
The number of deaths from prescription opioids from 2014 to 2016 were essentially unchanged, but deaths from illicit fentanyl derivatives over the same time period increased by almost 650%. Between 2010 and 2015, we know that by county, prescribed morphine daily dose equivalents (MEDD) per capita...
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A study of heroin users in Baltimore concludes that most are aware that fentanyl is likely present in the drug they are using while also acknowledging their unpreparedness to handle an overdose event that is likely to result from their activity. Researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of...
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Despite the existence of stringent regulatory controls, clinicians are prescribing potentially lethal fentanyl products to patients who should not be receiving them. So concludes a study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health published earlier this week in the Journal of the...