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UrduNew UCLA-led research has found that the proportion of US overdose deaths involving both fentanyl and stimulants has increased more than 50-fold since 2010, from 0.6% (235 deaths) in 2010 to 32.3% (34,429 deaths) in 2021. This rise in constitutes the ‘fourth wave’ in the US’s long-running opioid overdose crisis
Tag: Opioids
U.S. Drug Overdose Deaths More Than Quadrupled from 1999 to 2020
Regardless of race, age, geography or urbanization, drug overdose deaths in the U.S. more than quadrupled from 1999 to 2020, causing 1,013,852 deaths. The rates increased 4.4 times from 6.9 per 100,000 in 1999 to 30 per 100,000 in 2020.
NUTRITION 2023 Press Materials Available Now
Press materials are now available for NUTRITION 2023, the annual flagship meeting of the American Society for Nutrition (ASN).
Easier Access to Opioid Painkillers May Reduce Opioid-Related Deaths
Treatment medications are too stigmatized, costly and racially prescribed to stem the surge in overdoses, Rutgers researchers find.
Opioid Exposure in the Womb Could Raise the Risk of Heart Disease Later in Life
A new study sheds light on an understudied aspect of today’s opioid crisis: What happens to the cardiovascular health of babies exposed to opioids in the womb.
E-health reduces patient pain, opioids in clinical study
An online “e-health” program helped more people with chronic pain reduce their opioid medications and pain intensity than a control group that had only regular treatment in a recent clinical study.
How to Get Narcan: The Lifesaving Drug for Opioid Overdose
Ochsner Health Doctor of Pharmacy discusses Narcan use and availability.
FDA’s approval of over-the-counter naloxone will save lives
The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) urges the public to help fight the opioid epidemic by learning to recognize and respond to an overdose. This includes understanding how to use naloxone, a life-saving medication approved today for sale over the counter by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Marijuana-derived compounds could reverse opioid overdoses
Naloxone can reverse potentially fatal overdoses, but it’s less effective against powerful fentanyl. To develop alternatives, researchers are looking to a component of marijuana, CBD. They will present their results at ACS Spring 2023.
How one state beat national surgery opioid trends
A statewide effort to treat the pain of surgery patients without increasing their risk of long-term dependence on opioids has paid off in Michigan, a study shows.
Multiple substance use disorders may share inherited genetic signature
New research led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis identifies a common genetic signature that may increase a person’s risk of developing substance use disorders. The work eventually could lead to universal therapies to treat multiple substance use disorders and potentially help people diagnosed with more than one.
Inmates With Opioid Addiction Report Peer Navigators Are Crucial for Successful Community Reentry
Recently incarcerated people with opioid use disorder have trust in working with peer support specialists who recovered from addiction and faced similar life experiences, according to a Rutgers study.
CHOP Researchers Find Rate of Fatal Opioid Poisonings Among Children More Than Doubled Over 13-Year Span
Researchers found opioids were responsible for more than half of all fatal poisonings in children ages 5 and younger, more than double the proportion of fatal poisonings caused by opioids in 2005. Additionally, over-the-counter drugs still contribute to fatal poisonings in this age group despite increased regulation. The findings, published today in the journal Pediatrics, underscore the need for improved intervention to prevent further fatal poisonings.
Anesthesiologists, including one who lost both sons to opioid overdose, crusade for over-the-counter naloxone access
Physician anesthesiologist Bonnie Milas, M.D., experienced firsthand the power of naloxone – a drug that reverses opioid overdose – having used it to save her son when she found him unresponsive on the kitchen floor. With drug overdose deaths hitting…
New Jersey Regulation Not Associated With Curbed Opioid Prescriptions or Shortened Usage
Rutgers research shows that it is difficult to dictate physician behavior, but that may be a good thing.
Researchers Endorse Widespread Naloxone Over the Counter to Prevent Drug Overdose Deaths
Naloxone is an opioid receptor antagonist that rapidly reverses or blocks the effects of opioids, restores normal respiration and heart rhythm, and reverses the potentially fatal effects of an overdose. Although naloxone is included in U.S. CDC recommendations, the drug is currently prescribed to less than 1 in 70 patients prescribed high-dose opioid prescriptions. Researchers propose a call to action for all health providers and state medical societies to ensure the widest distribution and easy availability of naloxone, including over the counter, which is likely to be FDA-approved very soon.
Ignoring Native American data perpetuates misleading white ‘deaths of despair’ narrative
An increase in “deaths of despair” in recent decades has been frequently portrayed as a phenomenon affecting white communities, but a new analysis in The Lancet shows the toll has been greater on Native Americans.
Overdose deaths involving buprenorphine did not proportionally increase with new flexibilities in prescribing
The proportion of opioid overdose deaths involving buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid use disorder, did not increase in the months after prescribing flexibilities were put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study.
Scientists Publish New Findings in Quest to Build a Better Opioid
This basic scientific research provides a comprehensive structural framework that should help drug developers rationally design safer drugs to relieve severe pain.
Study suggests one solution to America’s opioid epidemic: Tell doctors their patients fatally overdosed
There are no simple solutions to America’s deadly overdose epidemic, which costs 100,000 lives each year and is erasing gains in life expectancy.
Nearly 1/3 of people with chronic pain turn to cannabis
According to a new study published in JAMA Network Open, almost a third of patients with chronic pain reported using cannabis to manage it.
UCLA Health Tip Sheet: Masks prevent more than COVID; Obesity and stroke; Opioids frequently prescribed in cirrhosis
A brief roundup of news and story ideas from the experts at UCLA Health.
Wastewater samples show the dramatic effects of tough love on codeine addicts as consumption plunges
Wastewater sampling has shown the significant impact of removing the strong painkiller codeine from pharmacy counters to a prescription-only medication since 2018 in Australia. The move has led to a 37 per cent drop in codeine use, cutting dependency and potentially saving lives.
Cleveland Clinic Studying Stem Cell Treatment for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
Cleveland Clinic was awarded $5.5 million from the National Institutes of Health to develop a stem cell treatment for complex regional pain syndrome, a disease that causes debilitating chronic pain.
The research shows long-term potential for providing patients suffering from chronic pain an alternative to addictive treatments like opioids.
Henry Ford Health Researchers Look at Steroids as Pain Control Alternative to Opioids
Henry Ford Health Orthopedic researchers looked at steroids as part of a multi-modal pain control regimen and an alternative to using opioids after outpatient knee replacement. The study won the 2022 American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons Clinical Research Award.
COVID lockdown did not lead to a rush on opioid prescriptions
While some feared that New Yorkers would re-fill prescriptions to stockpile opioid medications in the early weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown much in the way people hoarded toilet paper, in fact, New York State opioid prescriptions declined in the period around the March 20, 2020 “PAUSE” order, according to new research.
Novel Approach for Educating Prison Populations About Medication for Opioid Use Disorder
An educational campaign by Rutgers and the NJ Department of Corrections is first in nation to use direct-access video to reduce disparities in education about opioid treatment
Poll: Aching joints make older adults reach for many forms of pain relief – but health risks could follow
Popping a pill may bring short-term relief for arthritis-related joint pain, but many older adults may not realize that what they swallow could raise their risk of other health problems, or that other non-drug options could help them, a new poll suggests.
Pain is no joke in labour, but withholding laughing gas has no ill effects
Women giving birth during the COVID-19 pandemic have been denied nitrous oxide (laughing gas) for pain relief due to fears of virus transmission from the aerosol-generating procedure.
UCLA researchers use artificial intelligence tools to speed critical information on drug overdose deaths
Fast data processing of overdose deaths, which have increased in recent years, is crucial to developing a rapid public health response. But the system now in place lacks precision and takes months. To correct that, UCLA researchers have developed an automated process that reduces data collection to a few weeks.
Children and teens getting spinal surgery don’t need so many opioids, study suggests
Children and teens with scoliosis undergoing spinal fusion can be prescribed fewer opioids while still receiving adequate pain control after surgery, a new study finds. Patients receiving preoperative education on the risks of opioids and the importance of nonopioid pain management options consumed fewer opioids after surgery.
Researchers determine the complex structure of the receptors related to the addictive effects of opioids
A study published in the journal Pharmacological Research reveals the oligomeric molecular structure of the MOR-Gal1R complex, a component present in the brain which is involved in the analgesic and addictive effects of certain opioids.
Nonopioid pain prescriptions increased after 2016 CDC guideline, study finds
After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a guideline for prescribing opioids to patients experiencing chronic pain in 2016, the prescribing rate of non-opioid pain medication increased each year above and beyond what would be expected based on the preexisting trends, a new study finds. Researchers say the findings suggest more clinicians are carefully considering the risks of prescribing opioids.
New Documents Show McKinsey’s Role in Opioid Epidemic
The UCSF-JHU Opioid Industry Documents Archive released more than 114,000 documents related to McKinsey & Company’s work showing how they advised opioid makers to help increase sales, despite the growing public outcry over the opioid epidemic.
Opioids: 4 ways to reduce harm, overdose and death
As America sees a record number of overdose deaths, taking action to reduce harm and tragedy due to opioids is vital. Here, three providers with expertise in substance use disorder care share ways individuals, communities and health care providers can help save lives.
Experts stress importance of monitoring for post-treatment opioid use in young sarcoma patients
New analysis finds more than half of U.S. adolescents and young adults with sarcoma—a type of cancer in the bones or soft tissues—are often prescribed opioids to treat their pain.
University Hospitals and UC Irvine Announce New Co-Leadership of BraveNet, a Practice-Based Integrative Medicine Research Network
University Hospitals (UH) Connor Whole Health and Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute (SSIHI) at University of California, Irvine have joined in collaboration to lead BraveNet — the first and largest whole health, practice-based research network in the U.S.
Program Issuing Mailed Kits Doubles Rate of Leftover Opioids Disposal
Study finds that patients of orthopaedic and urologic procedures were more likely to dispose of their extra opioid tablets when they received kits in the mail to do so
Penn Medicine, Philadelphia Department of Public Health Partner to Increase Virtual Care for Patients with Opioid Use Disorder
Through a collaboration, a virtual “bridge clinic” will expand access to more extensive and personalized care for patients struggling with opioid use
Senate Introduces Bill to Provide Full Chiropractic Coverage in Medicare
The U.S. Senate has introduced a bill, S. 4042, to modernize Medicare coverage and better meet the needs of today’s seniors by increasing access to services provided by doctors of chiropractic.
New AI tool will predict patients at high risk for opioid use disorder and overdose
University of Florida researchers are developing a new artificial intelligence tool that will help clinicians identify patients at high risk for opioid use disorder and overdose.
Genetic Signals Linked to Problematic Opioid Use
UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers asked more than 132,000 23andMe research participants of European ancestry “Have you ever in your life used prescription painkillers, such as Vicodin and Oxycontin, not as prescribed?” More than 21 percent said yes.…
Survey of US Dentists Shows High Rate of Opioid Prescriptions Despite Knowledge of Effective Alternatives
A survey of dentists in the United States finds that an overwhelming majority of those who responded believe nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)-acetaminophen combinations are as effective or more effective in managing dental pain as opioids; however, almost half say they still prescribe opioids.
Overdose Deaths Involving Cocaine or Meth Tripled in Shadow of Opioid Crisis
Even as the opioid epidemic dominated national attention over the past decade, the rate of overdose deaths involving cocaine, methamphetamine and other stimulants tripled, a new study in veterans suggests.
Do doctors treat pain differently based on their patients’ race?
Physicians prescribed opioids more often to their white patients who complained of new-onset low back pain than to their Black, Asian and Hispanic patients during the early days of the national opioid crisis, when prescriptions for these powerful painkillers were surging but their dangers were not fully apparent.
Massive Study Links Nearly 600 Genomic Regions to Self-Regulating Behaviors
Researchers identified 579 locations in the human genome associated with a predisposition to self-regulation-related behaviors, such as addiction. With data from 1.5 million people of European descent, the effort is one of the largest genome-wide association studies to date.
First-time opioid prescriptions got shorter, less potent after CDC guidelines
Five years ago, CDC released an evidence-based guideline to help doctors treat their patients’ pain while balancing the risks and benefits of prescription opioid medications. A new study suggests it may have started to have an effect in the first two years after its launch.
Is reducing opioids for pain patients linked to higher rates of overdose and mental health crisis?
A UC Davis Health study published in JAMA found a 68% increase in overdose events and a doubling of mental health crises among patients who were on stable opioid therapy but saw their doses tapered.
Wisconsin bioethics project chronicles pregnancy, substance use disorder and the law
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is embarking on a massive research project to shed light on early child development, including the health and developmental implications of opioid use during pregnancy. The very first task is to ensure the study — the HEALthy Brain and Child Development study (HBCD) — is on solid legal and ethical ground.
Emergency department visits related to opioid overdoses up significantly during COVID-19 pandemic
Emergency department visit rates because of an opioid overdose increased by 28.5% across the U.S. in 2020, compared to 2018 and 2019, recent Mayo Clinic research finds. Emergency visits overall decreased by 14% last year, while visits because of an opioid overdose increased by 10.5%. The result: Opioid overdoses were responsible for 0.32 out of 100 visits, or 1 in every 313 visits, which is up from 0.25, or 1 in every 400 visits, the previous two years.