From CDC MMWR. O’Donnell J, Gladden RM, Mattson CL, Kariisa M. Notes from the Field: Overdose Deaths with Carfentanil and Other Fentanyl Analogs Detected — 10 States, July 2016–June 2017. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2018;67:767–768. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6727a4. Notes from the Field: Overdose Deaths with Carfentanil and Other Fentanyl Analogs Detected — 10 States, July 2016–June 2017 Fentanyl and […]
Opioids
MMWR: MRSA among persons who inject drugs
From CDC. Invasive Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections Among Persons Who Inject Drugs — Six Sites, 2005–2016 June 8, 2018 / 67(22);625-628 In the United States, age-adjusted opioid overdose death rates increased by >200% during 1999–2015, and heroin overdose death rates increased nearly 300% during 2011–2015 (1). During 2011–2013, the rate of heroin use within the past year […]
DOTS Study Finds Fentanyl and Polydrug Use in Patients Seen During Opioid Overdose Spike in Baltimore
DOTS Bulletin. June 2018. Issue 2.
Naloxone Recall—Two Lots From Hospira Recalled Due to Particulate Matter
Recall from the FDA Hospira Issues a Voluntary Nationwide Recall for Two Lots of Naloxone Hydrochloride Injection, USP, in the Carpuject™ Syringe System due to the Potential Presence of Particulate Matter Hospira, Inc., a Pfizer company, is voluntarily recalling lots 72680LL and 76510LL of Naloxone Hydrochloride Injection, USP, 0.4 mg/mL, 1 mL in 2.5 mL, […]
Did big pharma hide opioid addiction?
From the New York Times Origins of an Epidemic: Purdue Pharma Knew Its Opioids Were Widely Abused by Barry Meier Purdue Pharma, the company that planted the seeds of the opioid epidemic through its aggressive marketing of OxyContin, has long claimed it was unaware of the powerful opioid painkiller’s growing abuse until years after it […]
Opioid therapy may not always work for chronic pain
From NIH NIH study explains why opioid therapy may not always work well for chronic pain Researchers have shown that pain-induced changes in the rat brain’s opioid receptor system may explain the limited effectiveness of opioid therapy in chronic pain and may play a role in the depression that often accompanies it. These findings clearly […]
First FDA-Approved Medication for Opioid Withdrawal
From NIDA. NIDA-Supported Science Leads to First FDA-Approved Medication for Opioid Withdrawal In 2016, 115 Americans died every day from an overdose involving prescription or illicit opioids. Addiction to any drug has multiple components—altered functioning of the reward system, learned associations with drug cues that promote preoccupation and craving, and changes to prefrontal circuits necessary for proper exertion […]
Walmart to Restrict Opioids to 7-day Supply for Some
From CBS News. By Kate Gibson Walmart and Sam’s Club’s pharmacies will limit some customers to a seven-day supply of opioids, as the retail giant moves to help stem the epidemic that kills more than 100 Americans a day. The restrictions on initial opioid prescriptions for acute pain will start within the next 60 days, […]
New Study Suggests Overdose Deaths Now Caused Mainly By Synthetic Opioids
From JAMA. 2018;319(17):1819-1821. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.2844 Changes in Synthetic Opioid Involvement in Drug Overdose Deaths in the United States, 2010-2016 Drug overdose deaths are at unprecedented levels in the United States.1 Prescription opioids have been the most common drug involved in overdose deaths, but heroin and synthetic opioids (primarily illicit fentanyl) are increasingly implicated in overdoses.2 In addition, synthetic opioids […]
Study upends conventional view of opioid mechanism of action
From NIDA. NIH-funded scientists find new molecular target for developing safer pain medications. A new discovery shows that opioids used to treat pain, such as morphine and oxycodone, produce their effects by binding to receptors inside neurons, contrary to conventional wisdom that they acted only on the same surface receptors as endogenous opioids, which are […]